Look to the future
by phantomgamer01
Summary: COMPLETE! Certain events places Naruto on his bed with a kunai. Everyone knows now, he knows they can't accept him, there's only one thing left to do. Now the ghost of Naruto is left to hang around, and see if those who betrayed him really care...
1. Chapter 1

Author: Heh, this is the Naruto fic I finally promised to the few readers of my Inuyasha fic I've written so far. I've had like three ideas bouncing around in my head and finally chose one.  
  
This is my first attempt at anything remotely angsty, so even though the category isn't angst, there should be some quasi-angst in it.  
  
Uh...don't own Naruto...and unless I add an OC (which I don't think I will) I don't own any of the characters appearing in this fic.  
  
Also, I accept all reviews, and I urge you to criticize, and even flame if you must. Please it means a lot to me to have reviews with something in them.  
  
Last thing...I tend to drag some things on (like my 3 chapter fight scene in my other fic) so beware)  
  
Oh well, enjoy.  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
The high was fading away. The intense heat, the lust for blood and battle, the need to fight for no other reason than the fun itself. The disregard for an opponent's well being...it was all fading away now. A few more deep breaths and the fox would be contained once more in the recesses of the boy's soul and mind.  
  
Breath in  
  
Breath out  
  
Breath in  
  
Breath out  
  
Naruto felt his consciousness coming back to full control, the Kyubi pushed back to his gates again. His body ached a bit from both the battle that he hardly remembered and the effects of trying to handle Kyubi's chakra.  
  
Slowly, the battle he had done little more than passively witnessed from behind crimson eyes and the events leading up to it, began to return.  
  
_"Hey Naruto!"  
  
"What Kiba?" Naruto turned to stop from his current walk through Konoha's streets. He was a bit aggravated because he was on his way to go attempt to win Sakura's attention by defeating Sasuke (knowing that it wouldn't work but wanting the fight anyway). He turned his attention to the smiling boy that was casually strolling up to him, with his pup resting on the top of his head.  
  
He slowed to a stop when he was in conversation range.  
  
"Are you doing anything now?"  
  
"...why?"  
  
"Just a question, well, are you?"  
  
"...I was gonna go fight Sasuke because I'm bored and the ramen stand is closed for renovating or something like that. Why?"  
  
Kiba sighed a disappointed sigh and turned to leave.  
  
"Oh well, good luck"  
  
Naruto was a bit confused at what just happened, the confusion turned to anger, and the anger kinda settled down into normal Naruto-ness.  
  
"Hey, hey, HEY!!!!!"  
  
Kiba turned, the smile from moments ago changed to one of boredom. "What?"  
  
"Why do you want to know?"  
  
"Doesn't matter"  
  
Naruto growled under his breath and ran the short distance, stopping once he had cut Kiba off.  
  
"Tell me"  
  
"No, go get yourself pounded in the ground by Sasuke" the smile returned. "I was just gonna ask if you would let me do it instead, but there are others that pose more of a challenge I guess."  
  
Kiba closed his eyes and began to chuckle and a wide dog-grin crept on Akamaru's face.  
  
Naruto turned red.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MORE OF A CHALLENGE!!!! I BEAT YOU IN THE CHUUNIN EXAMS, IF ANYTHING, YOUR NOT A CHALLENGE ENOUGH FOR ME!!!"  
  
Checkmate  
  
"You sure about that one?"  
  
"Positive" Naruto turned and pouted, he could've kept ranting for a good time, but something about Kiba's unusual calm kept him from doing so.  
  
"Then let's go." Kiba walked right by the pouting Naruto, and was quickly followed by the boy thereafter._

Eyelids revealed fatigued blue eyes as Naruto finally opened his eyes back to the surroundings. Even he could smell the sweat, dirt, and blood in the air, he took a moment to take get an idea of what exactly happened. He was pretty sure he had won, the fox would make sure of the, but what about...  
  
His heart skipped a beat.  
  
Not five feet away was Kiba's crumpled form. It lay on the ground, jacket completely torn, and the boy bleeding all over. It looked like he was breathing...but not much.  
  
A faint whimper alerted him to the presence of the boy's nin-dog a few feet away in a soft patch of grass that he seemed to have been set on...by Kiba no doubt.  
  
Sweat began to pour down Naruto's face and under his jacket as panic took hold of him. He could feel Kyubi's sick satisfaction with the work he had done in the back of his mind. A single thought floated across his mind in the voice that he had begun recognizing as Kyubi's.  
  
...he brought it upon himself...

_Kiba skid to a screeching stop with the Akamaru in clone form right behind him. He was breathing hard and was starting to feel the limits of his chakra coming on. He dropped the chakra keeping Akamaru in human form, turning him back into a red pup.Fighting without food pills was more difficult that he thought, he'd have to go try and get them back from Kurenai's house later today.  
  
"Kiba, stop trying the same move...its not going to work" Naruto boasted, his head held high and his chest puffed wide. His breathing was a little heavier than normal, but he wasn't nearly as fatigued as his opponent.  
  
A small smirk wound itself on Kiba's face as he pulled himself to stand firmly on two legs.  
  
"Alright then, if that's what you want. Akamaru, you know what to do"  
  
There was a bark in response from Akamaru and a confused "huh" from Naruto as Akamaru laid all the way down on the grass and shut his eyes.  
  
"What, you got yourself a new technique then? Wanna match it against mine?" Naruto challenged, not waiting for a reply before starting up a sparring level Rasengan.  
  
"Just wait and see" Kiba ducked down and pressed his hands together, forming the basic seal and began to channel his chakra. He shut out the world and began to focus, feeling the vicinity for any creature that could serve his purpose, and avoiding Akamaru's.  
  
"It took me forever to get a hold of our family scroll so I could learn this technique. As a matter of fact, I get to bathe all the dogs in the house every other day for two months for this. But it's worth it."  
  
"Quit yappin and get a move on!" Naruto shouted, idly holding the Rasengan in his hand.  
  
Kiba continued to wrap his chakra around the minds of the beasts in the nearby forest.  
  
"You don't even want to know what I'm doing then Naruto?"  
  
Naruto sighed "Fine then Kiba, what does this technique do?"  
  
"I'm glad you asked"  
  
Kiba mentally counted the forest creatures he could command now and prepared to send them after the distracted Naruto, but something caught his attention. A faint mind, and very primal. It almost felt as if it wasn't there, but he knew it was. It was dark, and from what he could gather from it, very powerful...of course he wanted to control it.  
  
He focused on the presence a bit longer until he finally located it...it was close, really close. As a matter of fact, it seemed like it loomed around Naruto's immediate vicinity, but that was all he could identify. He began to wrap his chakra around the mind, and felt the last of his chakra reserves being tapped. The presence struggled, but Kiba ignored it.  
  
"This technique lets me control any primal mind close enough for me to get to. Right now I can hold up to 20 creatures in about ¾ of a mile around."  
  
"Huh, what are you-"  
  
Naruto couldn't finish the rest of the sentence as he suddenly fell to the ground. His eyes widened involuntarily, and he could faintly hear Kiba yell out the name of the jutsu, but couldn't comprehend it in his current state.  
  
...so the kid thinks he can control me huh...  
  
...not a good move kid...  
  
...not a good move at all...  
  
Naruto fell to the ground completely and felt his consciousness slipping away, not to black, but to red. Kyubi's hate was starting to burn up within him, and he could feel the fox pushing at the boundaries of Naruto's mind and seal.  
  
Score:  
  
Naruto: 0  
  
Kyubi: 1  
  
Naruto stood to full stature, eyes closed. The whiskers on his cheeks deepened and his nails transformed to claws. A cold laugh curdled in his chest. He could hear some 15 assorted forest creatures making their way to his location, but that didn't matter...he was free if only for a while, and he had one person to thank for it.  
  
He flared up his red chakra and opened his blood-red, feral eyes.  
  
"Thanks kid, I've been needing a breath of fresh air for a long time now."_

Naruto created a Kage Bunshin that ran over to pick up the injured dog, while he slowly and carefully picked up Kiba's battered form.  
  
He jumped into the nearest tree and took off for the hospital, the words "I'm sorry Kiba" being repeated to his now injured friend. ==============================================================  
  
He had been wandering the streets for a few hours now. None of Kiba's blood managed to get on his clothes, and his hands were conveniently placed in his pockets.  
  
'What have I done now?' Naruto thought 'This is all your fault you stupid fox'  
  
No reply  
  
'I hate you, I hope you burn in...wherever you go when you die'  
  
The image of the foxes trademark grin burned itself in the boy's mind.  
  
Then there was a jolt, a sudden impact colliding with his back. He fell to the ground, hearing the hushed and alarmed reactions from the villagers.  
  
He lifted his face off the ground to yell at whoever had knocked him down, but was stifled when he saw that it wasn't a person who knocked him down.  
  
A few feet away from him was a large dog with a dull brown fur coat looking as if it was ready to pounce. It was muscular as far as dogs go, in a way it reminded him of Akamaru...only bigger and meaner.  
  
The dog growled at him but the growl was soon accompanied by another from behind the boy.  
  
Naruto pushed himself up with his hands enough to get a look behind to see an identical dog with the same expression on it's face.  
  
The crowd begun to distance itself from the boy and the dogs as a young woman the boy hadn't recognized came into the clearing.  
  
She stood tall, with long black hair in a ponytail that came down to the middle of her back. Her outfit told him that she was a chuunin, the red streaks on her face told him that she was Inuzuka, and burning scowl in her eyes told him she was mad.  
  
Naruto knew why  
  
"H-h-hello...I bet your wondering what happened. You see...hehe...it was all an accident" Naruto began, trying his best to quell the woman's anger, and wishing that he had been better with words.  
  
She didn't show any signs of physical reaction, she didn't even breathe. She merely spoke, coldy and harshly"  
  
"Ginmaru, Chimaru, attack"  
  
Author: Wow, that really sucked...that's gonna get a lot of flames...oh well. Yeah this may not see another chapter because...well, I'm not sure if I'm any good at writing fics for Naruto. Inuyasha is one thing, but Naruto fics are completely different. Oh well we'll see.  
  
Oh, yeah I did make up the names for the woman's dogs and I'm gonna give her a name too because the only names I ever caught form that family were Kiba, Akamaru, and Kuromaru. So. If anyone has a problem with the mom being names Kirara and the Dad being names Akira (or if u have better suggestions, please let me know)  
  
BTW, does anyone know what all the suffixes mean, like san, sama, chan, kun, and dono?


	2. Chapter 2

Author: Wow...that's a lot of reviews. Really a lot 0.0 I don't think I've ever gotten that many for a single chapter. Thank you to everyone who gave me definitions for the suffixes so I can now use them, I'll give a key of how I'll be using them to avoid all confusion in a sec. Also, notice that I'm gonna try to avoid using the Japanese-English hybrid that so many like to use because to be frank, I don't know Japanese and I don't think it does full justice to substitute a few English words for the Japanese ones.  
  
The suffixes will be as follows:  
  
San – Used for people of the same rank, kind normal-ish. Using it will mean that whoever is saying it has no beef with the person s/he's talking to. Also for family members talking to one another.  
  
Kun – Used for good friends and teammates that happen to be men.  
  
Chan – Used for good friends and teammates that happen to be women. Also to be used for young children such as toddlers if need arises (hopefully it won't)  
  
Sama – Used for referring to one with utmost respect and humility.  
  
Dono – More respectful than Sama, but probably won't be used in this fic because, well I don't think I'll need to.  
  
Sensei – Used when referring to a teacher.  
  
None – Simply means the person either has a beef with the person their talking to, or doesn't know them at all (like a homeless person you stop by). However, if the person normally got a suffix (like –san) and they are referred to without one, it is taken as an insult.  
  
For now, husbands and wives will use Kun and Chan for each other (though it seems more like a dating term.) If anyone has other suggestions for it, lemme know.  
  
That's how things are gonna work in this fro now on. With the exception of jutsus that appeared in the Manga and a couple key words (genjutsu, kinjutsu, etc) that will be all the Japanese in this fic.  
  
Refused – Sorry about that. The summary will actually have to do with the story in the next chapter, this chapter and the last one are the chain of events that I mentioned. Don't worry, all will become clear soon.  
  
(The anonymous) J – Where did you hear that? Seriously, tell me so I can see. I've never heard that before...I guess it's possible, I never remembered it being mentioned. Please let me know where you found it.  
  
Without further adieu... (Man that was a long note)  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
Panic crowded Naruto's mind at the command. He shot a gaze to the dog behind him in time to see it charging forward, jaws open. His eyes widened as it got closer.  
  
He rolled his shoulder just in time to avoid having it clenched in the jaws that reminded him oddly of a bear trap. A trail of drool streamed away from the dog's mouth, and Naruto pushed himself off the ground with one hand placing some distance between him and the almost burnt brown dog.  
  
Just as he landed, a sudden impact through him skidding off to the side. His body drug across the ground before he came to a stop, now fully aware of the fact that he was now in combat.  
  
He looked up from the dirt to see the second dog standing where he had just been, his now alerted senses allowed him to mark the second dog having slightly more orange tint in it's fur. He stared at the dog for a moment before seeing movement out of the corner of his eye.  
  
He turned to see the first dog that had attacked him flying through the air, jaws open once again, looking for a part of his body to clench. He quickly got to his feet and side-stepped around the beast, his hand reached for his shuriken holster for a kunai.  
  
The sound of paws hitting the ground alerted Naruto that the orange dog was coming again, he abandoned his quest for a kunai, and moved his leg to avoid getting it chewed through. The dog, skidded by, not having the ability to stop completely from the speed.  
  
'An opening!' Naruto mentally exclaimed, reaching again for a kunai.  
  
His arm reached the holster this time, but before he could get it inside, there was a sharp pain on near his shoulder.  
  
He looked took the scene in with a look of shock on his face, the browner dog had clasped itself on his shoulder and was dragging him down to the ground, shooting pain into his veins and preventing his arm from moving. To make things worse, the orange dog had turned around and was coming right back.  
  
He hit the ground hard, and the dog kept it's grip on his arm, struggling against him when he tried to stand back up. The awkward made it almost impossible to stand up, and his right arm was completely numb and paralyzed as the fangs had effectively stopped signals from his brain to his arm.  
  
Orange fur quickly descended upon him, straddling his chest and torso. With his off hand, he grabbed at the jaws of the creature, closing it's mouth weakly. His legs kicked idly through the air, even though the creature was well out of their way.  
  
He screamed for help to those in the crowd, he couldn't hear anything but the deafening growls of the dogs. He was not surprised when no one answered his cries, and even though he had only been shouting for a few seconds, he knew that it fell upon deaf ears.  
  
...stop wasting your energy. If you want to make it out of here alive, I would suggest that you focus and stop idly shouting and squirming...  
  
Kyubi's voice was irritated in Naruto's mind.  
  
'Why should I listen to you? This is all your fault, that kid from earlier was her brother. You're the reason I'm in this mess. Why should I even bother doing what you say?'  
  
...because you don't wanna die...  
  
Naruto quenched his screaming and grunted under his breath. He stopped the squirming of his legs and brought to bend at the knee so that his feet were flat against the ground.  
  
The orange dog tore his head away, causing Naruto's slobber-wet hand to slip completely off it's grip. The creature, using the opportunity, began to thrash wildly at Naruto's sensitive neck and face.  
  
Naruto's hand barely managed to bat the face away from his throat and face each time. A sharp pain surged through his pinned arm causing him to wince. The dog above him rose it's head high for a moment before bringing it down quickly.  
  
...the THROAT boy!!!!...  
  
Naruto reached up and clasped onto the front of the dog's neck, his hand was too small and frail to suffocate the thing with simply one hand, but it was enough to stop the approach. The dog gagged a bit but remained steadfast, pushing against the hand.  
  
Naruto's off hand was starting to ache as the dog pushed against it, it wouldn't be long before it started to shake.  
  
He repositioned his elbow so that it rested against his chest and started squeezing against the dog's throat.  
  
He wasn't able to get the throat to close, but he had stopped the dog from getting any closer.  
  
He dared to let a smirk cross his drool-stained face. He turned his body to the right as quickly and suddenly as possible and slammed the orange dog onto the one that had clenched his arm.  
  
There was a soft whine from both of them and the pressure from his arm disappeared.  
  
He rolled away as quick as possible and got to his feet, the feeling returning to his arm. He skimmed the crowd for the Kiba's sister, he wasn't sure when she was going to strike, but forgetting about her could make this impossible situation even worse.  
  
While looking for her, his eyes happened upon three that he recognized. Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru stood amongst the crowd, eyes on the ground. Naruto's face twitched a little and his mouth opened to ask "why".  
  
Shikamaru looked up, gaze meeting Naruto's from across the widening arena. His black eyes were full of shame and his gaze fell back to the ground. He sighed heavily, his chuunin vest moved up and down with him.  
  
Before the word could come out, he heard movement, and turned to see both dogs getting up, shaking off the attack.  
  
He growled lowly, before raising both of his arms to meet and form his most common seal. Both arms ached, and his right was still rather heavy from the recent paralysis, but he trudged on.  
  
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
  
There were now seven Naruto's in the place of one. The original stepped back and the other six stood between him and the two dogs. All seven drew a kunai in one hand.  
  
'No point in tryin to make them guess which on one is the real me, their noses are probably even better than Kiba's. If I can't fool them, I'll just have to beat them.'  
  
The six clones jumped out, kunai raised screaming a battle cry, all the while the original stood back in a defensive stance.  
  
Both dogs looked at each other for a moment, nodded, then turned to face the copies while tucking into a attacking stance.  
  
At once they both took off towards the clones, and right before they met in mid-air, both dogs started spinning quickly and viciously on their sides.  
  
"...Tsuuga..." Naruto whispered, to himself when he recognized the attack.  
  
The two drills moved quickly through the air, reducing the huddle of clones to nothing more than dust and continued towards their initial target.  
  
Naruto watched them come, he weighted his options and settled. When the two reached him, he jumped to the side, rolling out of the way of the attack.  
  
He skid a bit, and jumped back, drawing another kunai so that he had one in both hands. His concentration wavered a bit as he heard what he thought to be his name.  
  
Puzzled, he turned around to see a shivering Hinata only a few feet from him, tears in her eyes, shaking furiously. Next to her was the ever indifferent Shino.  
  
He sent Hinata a forced smile, happy to see that it seemed that she was at least worried about him. He mouthed her the words "Don't worry" before turning back to the returning dogs.  
  
He ran towards the beasts, making sure that their attack would not land them near the retreating audience. His kunai drug behind him in his strengthening hands as he jumped over them both again. His goal changed from surviving to winning, afterall, everyone would have to acknowledge his strength if he beat an upper-ranked chuunin right?  
  
Both dogs passed by him and then turned in opposite directions making sure to keep the momentum. They traced a half circle around the boy before coming in to attack from both sides.  
  
Naruto stood tall on the ground, a devious smirk crossed his face as he reached back into his pouch for the stink bomb he had planned to use in the boy's bathroom at the academy. He slipped it in between his thumb and forefinger, holding on to the kunai in that hand.  
  
The dogs approached from each side, getting closer by the second. Right before they reached him, Naruto jumped in the air and threw the bomb down. The thin smoke rose just in time for the dogs to pass through it.  
  
They passed each other and emerged from the smoke, falling out of the Tsuuga, and gagging powerfully.  
  
Taking the opportunity, he threw a kunai at each, aiming for the middle of their backs to keep them out of the battle.  
  
The kunai flew through the air, landing halfway into the teary-eyed creatures, and drawing a bit of blood. Then there was a puff of smoke and there were two fresh logs in their places, each with a kunai buried deep within.  
  
Confusion found its way onto Naruto's face. He landed on the ground looking around for his opponents. He turned to see Kiba's sister, scowling, with her dogs at her sides. She made a few quick seals, and Naruto felt a sudden gust of wind whip about, blowing the remainder of the scent away.  
  
Naruto reached for two more kunai and slunk back into defensive stance, eyeing the pounce-ready dogs.  
  
"Stay..."  
  
Naruto tried to look puzzled at the command but didn't get the chance as he found a fist in his stomach before he could.  
  
He had thought that Kiba was pretty fast, but he never stopped to think how fast his sister would be, maybe winning would be harder than he thought.  
  
His face turned to anguish, he dropped the kunai in his hands and was thrown back from the blow. His form skid back for a while before he stopped, and when he did, he made no hurry to get up. He slowed his way to his feet while his vision slowly refocused, he coughed a little, tasting blood come from his throat and it dribbled down to his chin.  
  
Behind him, he saw Neji and Tenten in the growing audience. Neji was looking on as if interested, while at the same time bored out of his mind. Tenten's expression held the same thing but looked much less hostile. Beside them was Lee, it looked like he was shouting something that Naruto couldn't hear, and from the neck down his hands were at his sides as if in invisible pockets while he slouched abnormally lazily.  
  
'Damn. Not even Lee's gonna help me?'  
  
Now he was getting angry, he could feel Kyubi's chakra welling up within him, the feelings of rage and bloodlust came with them.  
  
Before he had a chance to quell it, Kiba's sister was in front of him, increased canines baring in her mouth. She brought her head down hard spiking the attack with a bit of chakra, smashing it into Naruto's forehead protector, and sending him straight to the ground closely followed by a trail of his own blood that slipped out of the headband. His eyes glazed over for a second, and his pupils rolled into the back of his head before returning with a jolt when he hit the ground.  
  
She raised a clawed hand over her head and Naruto rolled his head over to the side. He saw Sakura had joined Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru, she had tears in her eyes, and Ino looked like she was holding the emerald eyed girl. But from where he was, Sakura looked like she wasn't fighting back very much.  
  
His own teammate...  
  
His head rolled back up to meet the angry woman. His moved from her, to the roof behind her where he saw none other than Sasuke sitting in all his depressed glory. Even from on the ground Naruto could feel the angry aura from him.  
  
'He must still be mad about when I beat him after he had run off. Odd though, I figured that he would want to kill me himself, not watch someone else do it...'  
  
"We never should've let you live you monster."  
  
Naruto's attention went back to the woman above him. She continued through fangs now too large for her to speak too clearly.  
  
"We should have killed you as soon as we gave you the gift of mortality."  
  
Naruto's hearing came back and he heard a murmur of agreement from most the crowd. Lee's shouting seemed to have stopped, if he was indeed shouting at all.  
  
"Instead, we gave you another chance...we let you live among us, thinking that you were capable of more than just death and destruction."  
  
Her fangs fell back to normal size, but the edge of hate in her voice did not recede.  
  
"We even let you around the younger ones, and lied to them about your nature. But we were wrong, you aren't bred for anything else than murder. That's all you've ever been capable of, and that's all you're capable of now."  
  
Naruto began to come to, registering what was happening more fully. Kiba's sister took the time to drop her hand and sit down on Naruto's chest, pinning him with her weight. She put her knees on his arms holding them there.  
  
"And now, you've finally crossed the line. You gave up the forgiveness of the only village who would forgive you for what you've done. The only village with a Kage willing enough to give you another chance."  
  
She fidgeted around in her vest for a kunai and pulled it out slowly, the glint filling Naruto's eyes with fear that he hadn't felt in a long time. He struggled consequently against her weight but it didn't help.  
  
"Well if no one else is going to deliver what you deserve, then I will..."  
  
"Nira-san!" A strong voice bellowed from the crowd. Naruto looked over to see a middle aged looking woman with black hair that spiked downwards almost covering black eyes. She was clothed in a jounin outfit with various shades of grey and black. There were red streaks down hers cheeks, and to her side there was a large wolf with an eye-patch, who's fur matched the jounin's outfit.  
  
"Please Kirara-san..." she said, without turning around, the hate temporarily quelled from her voice "please stay out of this...it has to be done and I don't want you to be involved when punishment is carried out."  
  
"Who ever said it had to be done?"  
  
"It just has to, he must be dealt with...we must finally kill this wretched Ky-"  
  
Naruto's eyes widened.  
  
"You've already said too much Nira-san, don't say anymore" There was a stern tone in her voice. "Even if it must be done, it is not your place or even mine to do so."  
  
"No one else will do it...so I will, Hokage be damned, Fourth be damned."  
  
"I know you better than that Nira-san, do you really want to rob this child of his life? He's just that, a child, not much younger than yourself. Doesn't he deserve to live?"  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"And what about Kiba-san, does it matter that this monster tried to kill your own son, my only brother?"  
  
"Kiba...Kiba-san is a ninja Kirara-san." Her voice became solemn. "He will have to fight tough opponents at times, even tougher than Naruto...that's just the way things are."  
  
"I'm sorry Kirara-san, but I can't accept that..." She turned back to Naruto, scowling again.  
  
"They thought that sealing you would take care of our problem with you...they thought that you could live a normal life...like what you did could be erased from our memories. I was only five at the time, but I'll tell you this Kyubi, we haven't forgotten."  
  
Naruto's heart stopped beating for a second when she said that, the blood faded from his face when he heard gasps of confusion from none other than the genin (and Shikamaru), and he started to feel faint when she brought the kunai above her head.  
  
He shut his eyes and waited.  
  
He heard the kunai traveling on it's way to his chest, he heard Nira breathing hard, he heard the wind whipping off everything in the area...he heard...he heard...  
  
The sound of a book closing.  
  
He opened his eyes to see none other than Kakashi standing above him, holding Nira's armed hand in one hand, and closed copy of Icha Icha Paradise that he was slipping into his pack.  
  
"Do not touch my subordinates"  
  
"Your gonna fight me over this creature?"  
  
Kakashi used his now free hand to slide his forehead protector away from his eye and up to his forehead, staring at the young woman with his Sharingan eye.  
  
"I mean it Nira"  
  
Kirara growled and grew the claws out on her free hand.  
  
"If that's the way you want it Kakashi"  
  
Before she could strike, she found her other arm bound in a lighter grip.  
  
"This needs to end now Nira-san." Came a calm voice from her other side.  
  
"No! I'm not done yet!" She struggled against the jounin holding her arms, causing a bit of discomfort to Naruto who had begun breathing again.  
  
"We have to kill him! We have to! Sealing him wasn't enough! He'll destroy us all, just like when he tried to all those years ago! Just like when he killed father! Just like when he tried to kill Kiba-san!"  
  
Angry tears began to stream from her eyes.  
  
"He'll kill us! He'll destroy us! He is a monster! That's all he is!"  
  
Naruto cringed under her at the accusations.  
  
...Stupid woman, she had no idea...hehe, too bad no one else is listening...  
  
'Shut up you damn fox. Just shut up.'  
  
Kyubi's evil smile painted itself in his mind.  
  
"Inuzuka Nira" Came yet another voice. Naruto looked around Nira to see a man cloaked in black with a white mask covering his face. "You are to report to the Hokage immediately."  
  
Nira stopped suddenly, her eyes glazed over and she looked, Naruto straight in the eye.  
  
He could see her color vanish after the man spoke, her lips began to quiver and he say the dazed look in her eyes. There was fear. And lot's of it.  
  
She slowly stood to her feet and both Kirara and Kakashi let her go, Kakashi taking the kunai when he let her hand go. He gave it to the ANBU member who proceeded to remove any and all weapons the woman had on her.  
  
He grabbed her by the shoulder, and the two disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
  
Kakashi looked at Kirara, then pulled his headband back over his Sharingan.  
  
"I'm sorry about this Kakashi-san, Kiba-san got put in the hospital after a sparring match with Naruto"  
  
"I know, that's why I'm not too angry"  
  
"You would really have used the Sharingan on her?"  
  
Silence was his reply.  
  
"I'm sorry about that Naruto" Kirara said looking down and offering Naruto a hand. "She's not always like that." There was sincerity in her voice.  
  
Naruto hesitantly stood up and muttered an acceptance of the apology.  
  
Kirara and Kakashi parted ways and all three dogs followed behind Kirara.  
  
Naruto could hear the dissipating crowd murmuring various things like "Never send an Inuzuka to do anything important", "Damn ANBU", and "Too bad she got caught so soon".  
  
To be honest, he had expected that...he looked over to the other genin, who surrounded him, never having left their various spots in the circle...to him, they were all that mattered.  
  
Sasuke jumped down and landed in a spot that no one had been in.  
  
All the adults streamed away, and Naruto was left with 9 either confused or indifferent genin, and one lazily shocked chuunin.  
  
Even Lee was quietly shocked, he was no longer standing lazily, but he was definitely off-guard.  
  
"N-N-N-Na-ru-t-t-t-o" Hinata was the first to try to speak, but by the time she reached the last syllable, she had become so weak from shock and tension, that the "-kun" was completely inaudible.  
  
Naruto's heart sank.  
  
Sakura walked forward, no longer bound by Ino.  
  
"Naruto-kun...i-is, is it..." She couldn't finish  
  
"Is it true?" Came Sasuke's dark continuation of what Sakura tried to ask. Everyone was thinking the same, Sasuke was just the only one who had the gall to ask out loud. There was a razor in his voice.  
  
Naruto looked around at the quiet bunch around him. He could lie...he had done so before. Why should it be any different now, he was in no hurry to push his friends away. He deserved friends just as much as anyone...but then again, friends aren't supposed to lie to one another. Friends were supposed to trust one another with their secrets and hurts, their fears and fallacies, then rejoice together when the faults were overcome. If that was the case...then that meant he never had them as friends.  
  
They weren't friends, they didn't help him. Between the 11 of them, they could've beaten her. He would've easily stick his neck out for any of them...these that he considered his friends. No, they couldn't be friends...none of them.  
  
If they weren't friends, then they didn't deserved with the bliss of ignorance.  
  
Naruto smiled almost evilly, his blue eyes somehow caught with a fire that none of them had ever seen before. It wasn't determination or drive like normal, it wasn't excitement, it was something else, something they couldn't put a finger on.  
  
He shut is eyes and nodded to Sasuke, blood from his head wound streaked down between his eyes and parted at the bridge of his nose. It went around his mouth and met at his chin. Naruto almost looked evil.  
  
He heard a few gasps and a sob or two coming from a direction he didn't care about. He turned and walked in the direction of his house, not even pausing to retrieve his kunai. He only had five altogether, but he didn't care. He wouldn't need them, not his weapons, not his "friends", not Iruka, not Kyubi. He didn't need anyone or anything.  
  
And in a way that reminded everyone very much of Sasuke.  
  
He just walked away.  
  
Author: Wow that was long, almost as long as my first chapter. Don't worry, the next one probably won't be as long, I'm new to angst and that's what the next chapter is about.  
  
Once again, I'm not too confident about this chapter, it seemed to almost drone on.  
  
Oh well, I'll update again after I update my Inuyasha fic, so it'll probably be about a week or so. 


	3. Chapter 3

Author: Okay...this is where things get interesting. First off, I looked at the links J sent me, and I'm inclined to believe what s/he said. That means that I had to go and revise my last two chapters so that my fic would not become AU.  
  
Important Changes (So that you won't have to go back and re-read the other chapters if you already did):  
  
The girl who attacked Naruto was in fact Kiba's sister, she is names Nira and she is a chuunin. Everything that was previously said to have been done by Kirara, has been changed to Nira.  
  
Akira (Kiba's father) was changed to Kirara (Kiba's mother) and all actions for those two were switched. Kuromaru however, is still with Kirara, just so none of you are confused.  
  
Nira also makes mention to Naruto (while screaming once she's been detained by her mom and Kakashi) that her father was killed by Kyubi, which is more reason for her to kinda lose it and not listen to anyone until the ANBU member shows up.  
  
Also, I started using "-san" for family members because I remembered that oni-san, oto-san, and oka-san all use "san" so I figured that it would work.  
  
Sorry about any confusion. If there are any questions, please send them to me in a review, I'll be happy to answer them.  
  
Btw – Dalcacris is my brother, so the idea about Kiba's dad dying is an idea that we bounced off each other, I didn't steal it from him...not like it matters.  
  
Refused – hehe, about the summary, I just realized that I have a huge problem with typos...lol. It really is supposed to be "he knows they can't accept him" lol. Thanks for catching that.  
  
...uh I think that's it, so...Without further delay and hesitation...  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
A faint wind blew through the circle that the ten young ninjas were standing in. It did little to cool the warm air, and even less to break the mounting tension that was yet to reach a climax. None of them spoke, for none of them had anything to say for time being. Looks of confusion and shock told anyone around whatever needed to be said.  
  
It was shortly after Naruto had gotten out of the range of sight that speaking became a feasible concept. Naruto's nearly evil grin was still etched in their faces, and the idea of him being the Kyubi was certainly more possible to them having seen it.  
  
"I-I'm confused..." Lee was the first to speak. "Naruto is Kyubi? How is that possible...what did she mean?" His voice quivered as if he didn't really want to know the answers to the questions everyone needed to ask. All eyes turned to Shikamaru, hoping that the shadow chuunin had some vague idea of what was going on.  
  
He felt the gazes drift his way, and racked his brain for a moment despite the pressure, his gaze still on the ground.  
  
"I've heard of such jutsu before..." he began, no one interrupted. "She said that he had been sealed, well I've heard of such things before from books. Demons that were too powerful to be destroyed...used to be sealed into a vessel. Normally that vessel would be killed as soon as the sealing was complete, the ritual says that someone must die...But in this case, Naruto wasn't killed...someone else died in his place."  
  
A faceless image of the Fourth drifted across the minds of all of them at once. There was another eerie moment of dead silence.  
  
Sasuke was the next to break the silence.  
  
"So that explains why that dobe was able to beat me." There was a bit of malice in his voice. He pulled the leaf headband off of his head and looked at it, a crazed smirk drew itself across his face. "I should have known that no one would be able to match that power...at least no one normal. Lucky bastard."  
  
Everyone was shocked at the words that came out of his mouth, and shocked more so by his next action. He turned his back and hopped onto one of the roofs and just left. Sakura stood speechless, wanting to stop him somehow, but not knowing exactly how. Her eyes fell back to the ground.  
  
'How could he say something like that?'  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of sudden sobbing. She turned to see Hinata on her knees, weeping opening and rather loudly. Shino was sitting closer than he normally would, but looking awkward, comforting never his strong suit.  
  
There were no words coming from Hinata's mouth, just tears from her eyes. No one was exactly what she was crying about, it could have been any flurry of things, no one except Sakura.  
  
Hinata was crying because she thought she had lost Naruto forever.  
  
Sakura knew that because she felt the same way, but about both Naruto and Sasuke. Her job had been to keep the team together, to stop arguments and fights and hold everyone together no matter the circumstance, that's what her job was...and she had failed it miserably. She felt like crying, she merely lacked the energy to do so.  
  
"Fate has an odd way of working doesn't it? Naruto's fate was to be spurned by the village for being Kyubi, the Hokage tried to alter that fate by not telling the next generation. But we found out anyway...its our fate then to do as the adults around us then." A solemn Neji concluded.  
  
Tenten turned in slight disbelief, she had thought he was over the "fate rules all" belief.  
  
"No, that can't be true..." Sakura muttered under tearing eyes. Ino walked over to her friend and placed her hands squarely on the girl's shoulders.  
  
"And why not?" Neji masked any emotion that he had felt behind his Byakugan eyes.  
  
"B-b-because Neji-san...we can't hate him...for what he is not." Hinata's trembling voice was the next to be heard.  
  
"But he is Kyubi isn't he?" Chouji's voice held confusion, not malice like some would have thought. "I mean, that's what Shikamaru said right?"  
  
"Chouji..." Sakura began, tears fading from her eyes. "When you and everyone else went out to get Sasuke...you were there with Naruto. Was there any reason not to trust him? Sure he might have been annoying...but was he in any way a demon?"  
  
Chouji and Shikamaru started looking uncomfortable, Neji was feeling it.  
  
"No"  
  
"Then how can you say that he is a demon?" Hinata's voice mysteriously stopped quivering, tears no longer pouring from her eyes, her voice just sounded like a sadness that could only be told by a muse.  
  
"Because he is still the Kyubi Hinata-san." Neji was cold as ever.  
  
Silence there, and nothing more. (Author: Altered quote from Poe's The Raven) ===============================================================  
  
"What the Hell were you thinking?" Tsunade didn't even attempt to mask her anger at the young girl in front of her.  
  
Nira kept her eyes locked to Tsunade's, her eyes quivered involuntarily, betraying the show of brevity she was struggling to maintain. She stood tall, her entire body stiff, her knees pushed together to keep them from shaking.  
  
"Do you not understand what forbidden information is?"  
  
Nira stayed silence as she knew she was supposed to.  
  
"Do you not understand what it means to keep information quiet? How can you expect to trusted with more advanced information in a mission if you can't even keep something as simple as this quiet."  
  
"I can't believe you..." she continued, her screams had managed to escalate further, allowing everyone on the floor to know what was going on. "...you came in here not a few days ago asking for permission to partake in the jounin exam! Being a jounin is more than just being strong enough, there are other things you have to be able to do."  
  
"On top of that! You attacked a fellow leaf-nin. A genin nonetheless! He's no more than twelve or thirteen, you had no reason to attack him, I don't care who you think he is. That, and you threatened to kill nine other genin and a fellow chuunin if they interfered! If Shikamaru hadn't stopped Gai's kid, what would you have done? That doesn't sound like someone who is ready to take a jounin exam, that doesn't even sound like someone who's been trained in Konoha at all!"  
  
Nira cringed. Against her better judgment, she opened her mouth to speak.  
  
"B-but..."  
  
"But what?!" Tsunade was glaring straight through the girl.  
  
"But he's a demon. H-he has to die. That's just the way things are. It's the way ninja's have always dealt with demons in the past."  
  
Tsunade walked over to the girl and slapped her with the back of her hand, holding back enough so that the girl stayed in the room, and merely fell on the ground, a bruise preparing to grow already.  
  
"How would you know that? Have you ever talked to him? Do you even know him?" The volume in her voice was reduced, but the rage was still present, manifest in a slightly sadder tone.  
  
Nira looked away, unable to get her legs to support her again.  
  
"So then how do you know he is a demon?"  
  
Nira closed her eyes. "I know what he has done. To this town...to my family..."  
  
"Everyone lost someone in the attack Nira..." There was a soft tone in her voice now. "...but that doesn't mean that they can go get vengeance."  
  
Nira turned away to hide the growing tears in her eyes.  
  
"Its easy for you to say that Hokage-sama. But put yourself in my shoes...the closest person to me...my brother, was almost taken away because he couldn't control the beast within him. How would you react if it was someone that you held close to you...would you have done anything differently?"  
  
Nira looked up to Tsunade with pleading eyes.  
  
There was silence in the room for a few unbearable moments.  
  
Tsunade walked back behind her desk and sat down.  
  
"For the next six months your status as a ninja is officially revoked. You will therefore not be allowed to carry or buy ninja weapons of any kind. You will also be prohibited from training in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. If you are seen doing so, your status will be revoked permanently."  
  
Nira turned to hide growing tears. She was glad Tsunade didn't permanently revoke it in the beginning like she should have...but still, being a ninja was her life. She had devoted so much of her time to it...now it was gone, just like that.  
  
"Give me your leaf head band and you chuunin vest. Then you are excused, come see me six months from today."  
  
Nira blinked away tears and managed to find the strength to stand. She trudged toward the desk and slowly unzipped the vest. It slid off her shoulders, relieving a weight from her shoulders. She put it down on the desk and went to slide the headband from around her torso where it had been hidden under the vest.  
  
She turned to the door and walked out, leaving a piece of her in the room with Tsunade.  
  
Tsunade watched the girl leave and rested her head on her propped up hands to think for a moment. She hated being Hokage for now because there were much more important things she felt she could be doing.  
  
She sighed heavily. ===============================================================

The walk back to his apartment had been longer than he had thought, already the wounds from his "battle" with Nira were healing. The blood on his face was drying and caking on thickly, accompanied by the tears that had began covering his face as soon as he left the others behind.

He slipped his hand into his pocket and grabbed the key, withdrawing it quickly and unlocking the door. He stepped inside the close quarters and quickly shut and lock the door as if to block out the images in his mind.

The stares had been worse the whole way back to his temporary haven.

He looked around his apartment, his gaze leading to the few extra pairs of clothes he had, sprawled over the grounds along with scrolls that he had meant to read one day or another, if not return them all together. Empty cups and packs of instant ramen along with the few pair of wooden disposable chopsticks that he reused filled his kitchen-living room.

As much as he would have rather seen the filthy existence of his surroundings, only the silent looks of guilt and betrayal from the other genin and single chuunin came to mind. When he turned his head, he didn't see one room bleed into another, hardly separated by barriers of clothing and trash, he saw his gaze go from one genin to another. The looks on their faces burned into his mind.

He could endure the stares of the people in the crowds, nameless faces that he would only have to stop and bug if he wanted to. He had endured those all his life, even though the faces had greater malice now than before, that was the easy part. The thing he couldn't shake at all, was the silence that followed to after he confirmed what the genin (and Shikamaru) had heard.

The fact that none of them with the exception of Sasuke would talk to him, and even Sasuke seemed a bit more hesitant than normal. Hinata tried to at least, better than most of them, but she had only made him feel worse.

"Just Naruto now then…" He spoke without consciously deciding to as his thoughts drifted to what she had called him.

Sakura tried, that was good wasn't it? But then again, she didn't have a problem talking to Sasuke even while he was possessed or actively seeking Orochimaru.

"…at least with Kyubi, you didn't know your enemy Sakura…" he sat down on a single seat couch after moving a pair of briefs onto the floor. He sunk into it, mostly out of grief. "Kyubi only attacked once, killing those that you didn't know. Orochimaru not only attacked, but has plotted and moved against us time and again. Him you knew, him you faced, him…you had real reason to fear…yet I'm the one that you feared so much that you couldn't talk to…"

…humans fear what they don't understand, it's in your nature…

For once, the foxes voice in his head sounded soft, almost caring as he tried to comfort the kid who's eyes were still watering though the audible crying had long since stopped. Naruto had mind to yell at the creature about the whole thing being his fault…but just having someone to listen to him…to talk to him…realize that he was there and not just some faceless silhouette that imprisoned a demon. It was kind of comforting, even though the listener was the cause of all his pain…he still seemed a good listener, for now.

"I know that…" Naruto spoke audibly, a completely subconscious action as he continued the conversation that would have seemed one sided. "But, that doesn't help things. Sakura…she…we were supposed to be a team, supposed to look out for everyone on it equally weren't we? I mean…Sasuke flips out and heads out for Orochimaru…and she has the confidence to go and try to talk some sense into him rationally…me? I try to _fight_ you…and I get a stuttering shell that looks like Sakura at my side. She couldn't even ask me a full question."

…she fears you, they all do. They fear me in you…what you…what _we_ could do. Don't mind them, they don't know anything…

Naruto looked around the room as if to see Kyubi, his voice had grown stronger as if he had been right next to him and not in his mind. His gaze turned towards a mirror, half covered by a t-shirt draped over it. In the reflection he saw himself, yet at the same time, someone completely different.

The reflection dressed the same, had the same hair, the same pattern of blood on his, as a matter of fact it was a perfect copy except for the eyes, fangs, and claws.

The eyes were blood-red, not like one who's had too much alcohol or marijuana, but someone who found a way to personify absolute hate in a gaze. The feral eyes fixated themselves on him…bearing through him…scaring him. He was pretty sure they tried to break him…yet somehow the eyes seemed familiar…the gaze, the same fear had been felt before.

The claws and fangs were sharp enough to cut through almost anything short of metal, or so Naruto assumed. The fingers and jaws were tensed as if anticipating a kill at any moment, almost itching at the chance to tear through some poor thing with them.

Then he remembered where he felt the stare coming from.

His mouth dropped, but the reflection's didn't. He slowly stood, and trudged closer to the mirror to get a better look. The reflection made a similar move, but at it's own pace. Naruto was but a few feet from the mirror before Kyubi spoke, the reflection's jaw moved accordingly.

"They fear this that you can become…a power not seen in this place for years…"

"But, whoever said I wanted that?" Naruto's voice came out meeker than when the thoughts played through his head a moment before.

"Because I know you…I've been you…I've lived everything, every memory, every celebrated failure, every denied success that you have. I've seen the hate in their eyes bred from their fear. You want power almost as much as the Uchiha kid, so you can prove to them once and for all that you exist…so they'll acknowledge you."

Naruto cringed at the thought of being compared to Sasuke when it came to wanting power, it had been true a little…hadn't it? He did want power, or else he wouldn't want to be Hokage…he pushed himself to the brink of his limits, then jumped past them without a second thought. He wanted power…he had worked for it…the fox was right…he had to be…after all, it had lived all of his experiences and seen him grow…a part of him of sorts…he wouldn't lie to himself….

"The only difference between you and that other kid is that you haven't embraced the power given to you. I have no problem lending power to those who I respect, you are mortal after all. When your life takes a natural end, mine will begin again. I have eternity to wait kid, and I'm becoming more patient by the day."

Naruto said nothing as he looked to the image in the mirror.

"I have more power than your mind is even capable of dreaming of. All you need do is ask and I will give you however much you can handle, it's been like that since you first came to me, it's still like that now. All you need to do is quit pretending that you don't want my power…and then anything will be possible for you…for us. With even a glimpse of what I have to offer, you could wipe out this entire village if you did it right. You could smite them with the unholy vengeance that is yours by right to wreak…all you have to do is accept your desires…and they'll come true in a heart beat."

Naruto's gaze fell away from the creature in the mirror.

'Become the monster that everyone says that I am?'

"Yes"

For a moment Naruto forgot that the fox was actually in his mind and not in front of him, which meant his thoughts weren't safe from prying ears.

"…but, I don't think that I want to do that. Sure, these villagers are jerks and everything, but not everyone of them deserve to die. What about my…"

Naruto almost finished the sentence but stopped short…the Kyubi-Naruto smiled a wide grin.

"…your friends? The ones who disowned you while you fought for your life? The ones who you would have helped without a second thought? The ones that you thought would understand you but you were too afraid to tell about me? Or are you talking about the ones that were so full of fear that they couldn't talk to you once they found out about the skeletons in your closet?"

Naruto didn't speak, he merely looked back to Kyubi's representation, staring the feral eyes head on. His eyes filled with tears and his eyes began to quiver.

Memories of the past hour flooded his mind. The stares, the silence, the betrayal, the hurt, the pain…all of it…he relived it a few times, but he didn't remember it being so harsh. He was pretty sure that when Shikamaru had caught his eyes when he was fighting, that the chuunin didn't smirk maliciously before looking at the ground. He was sure that Sasuke didn't clap a bit when Naruto saw him sitting on the roof. He was sure that he saw Ino holding Sakura back…not trying to push her into the circle…but these were his memories…the only log of what could have happened…it had to have happened, or else he wouldn't remember it happening.

The tears amplified, and through the boy's water-logged eyes, he failed to see the hallucinations smirk.

He opened his quivering mouth to speak, but before he could he was hit with another barrage of painful memories.

After the fight, when things settled down…Rock was snickering…snickering that the boy had lost so easily. Hinata sounded disappointed when she called him, hesitation in her voice…but only from deciding whether or not to talk to him…she decided otherwise and dropped the comment. Ino and Sakura were whispering something to one another before pointing and laughing.

_"So then, you're the Kyubi eh? Just a monster then…" _

_Chouji's voice rang out._

_"Yeah Chouji…that explains why he managed to be so strong…now I'm not surprised he beat Neji and Kiba, they were both way out of his league."_

_Hinata's voice was so sure of itself that it sent chills down Naruto's spine._

_"What a weakling"_

_Shino's muffled voice added._

_"Agreed"_

_Ino's bossy tone added to the mix._

_"And I thought you were something…no one beats Neji…at least no human."_

_Tenten's voice was quiet and mocking, Naruto could imagine the gleeful smile on her face. _

_"Fated to do nothing more than fail…"_

_Neji's voice calmly melded with everyone else's._

_That was the last one he registered, he fell to his knees as the rest of the young teens took their verbal shots at him. His hands pressed against his ears, vainly trying to shut it out but not helping. The words were lost on him, but the tone was evident enough to show the meaning._

_They hated him._

_His vision began to blur and slowly a tinge of red crept into his peripheral vision on all sides. His nightmare of a memory slowly fading to a dream of fantasy._

_His blood began to pulse harder now…he could feel chakra surrounding him…chakra that wasn't his. He clenched his eyes shut, willing everything to go away, to just fade into the background…but it didn't. He could still hear what had transformed into a jovial laughter about him while his eye-lids tried to ward off reality. He could almost feel his eyes shift to the feral version as an odd lust filled the back of his mouth. His fingernails morphed, along with his canines._

_But it wasn't until he felt a soft kick that he actually lost it._

_He sprung up quickly to find himself face to face with Ino who was looking slightly shocked at him. Without even thinking about it, his hand slid across her throat, leaving four slash marks and a now gushing flow of blood. It was odd how if felt…there was fire coming from the liquid as it touched his skin...burning him…but tempting him. The pain was so much so that it seemed like pleasure, and as he watched the blood slide down and stain the suffocating girl's shirt…temptation overtook him. _

_He grabbed her by the shoulder with one hand and forced the other into her gut, she shuddered for a second, spurting out the beautiful liquid-fire onto his head. It helped for a moment before the lust grew stronger._

_Confident the girl was dead, he tossed the corpse aside. _

_There was a scream._

_He turned to see a pale Sakura looking over at the corpse that had been flung aside._

_Hate joined the rage and bloodlust he was feeling. He closed the distance between himself and Sakura before she could react. He slid his knee into her stomach, reveling in the feeling of it closing around his leg, and the sound both her body and voice made as the impact took effect. He dropped his knee so she could slide down to her knees before placing the other knee square in her forehead. She fell backwards but found herself with four evenly spaced open wounds running from her head to her stomach before she hit the ground. The unmistakable joy in Naruto's face as the blood flew through the air and cloaked the boy in a new color._

Kyubi's hallucination smile grimly at the now convulsing boy.

'Yes, feel the joy of killing with your own hands. Feel the joy that no weapon can bring. Taste their blood, revel in their screams, enjoy the feeling of complete power that I an give you. Feel what it's like to kill those who tried to kill you, give in to the blood lust in your mind, so that you can do it in this world too.'

The demon grinned even deeper, soon his revenge would be complete, he had to make sure to send thanks to a certain clan for allowing the whole thing to accomplished.

…fools…

_Naruto almost began to laugh as his eyes went wide. The blood was getting everywhere, and Sakura's eyes were closing as she fell away into absolute sleep. The air smelled of blood even to his human nose, and there was little more satisfying than that._

_What kept him from laughing was the crackling sound that he heard from behind him. He turned to see Sasuke, eyes blaring with Sharingan, and a Chidori already in his hand. The darkly cloaked boy charged blindly lashing out at the demon with the blade of lightning._

_Naruto stepped inside quicker than even Sasuke anticipated. The hate had grown to immeasurable proportions, as the demon's muscles tensed in anticipation of a long awaited kill. With both hands, he grabbed Sasuke's arm so tight that circulation ceased immediately, ignoring the static numbness the Chidori was producing in one of his hands._

_He wrenched the boy's arm down and lifted his knee to collide with the joint at the elbow. The crack was almost orgasmic, accompanied by the scream, Naruto could hardly keep from turning his grin into a full fanged smile. He released his grip on the boy's arm, the Chidori already faded away, and turned grabbing each of Sasuke's shoulders in each hand._

_He pulled him closer and dug his fangs into the boy's neck. The flesh under him pulsed violently, sending blood straight into the demon's mouth, feeding the frenzy, fueling the hate. He ripped his fangs across the front of Sasuke's neck and dropped the dead boy._

_He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, let out a hearty laugh, and commenced with the pre-teen genocide._

Reality came back to him as quickly as it had left. Kyubi was still standing in the mirror in Naruto's altered form, a huge grin on his face. He shook violently from his new place on the floor.

"So…what about it? You felt it, you saw it, you wanted it there…do you want it here?"

Kyubi's reflection extended a hand to shake as if mirror boundary was not there.

For most, when provoked by a situation, a certain reaction will ensue every time without fail. For few others, when a situation presents itself, a mental coin is tossed in the air, whichever side it lands on decides how the person will react.

Somehow, someway, Naruto made the switch from one to the other. When the coin flipped, a reaction that Kyubi had not anticipated showed itself.

The shuddering and quivering escalated without a moments notice. Kyubi could feel the boy's mind strain as all rationality faded from his mind. The quivering body on the ground began to breathe irrationally, drooling a bit, and confining itself to a fetal position. His eyes wide, he shut out everything but his own thoughts…which Kyubi could still hear.

'T-t-they hate me…They just…laughed…again…just like they always did. They mocked me…spat on me…cursed me…hated me. They hated me for what I couldn't control…for what was done to me…they hated me…they hate me. Everyone hates me…but them…its worse…they used to…I thought they…they said that…but…they liked me…I know they did…they did…they did…did they?'

Panic attacks are not something easily dealt with from the outside. Those around can often lose their heads, especially when the one panicking pulls out their last kunai and starts cradling it like a child. Its that much worse when you know that knife can kill you too…and you can't take it away yourself.

…shit…

'Why…why do they want to hate me so much…what did I ever…why me? How come? Th-they call me a…m-monster…they said I'll never be able to do more than kill…'

The memory of his fantasy flooded his vision, as if he were watching it at a movie theatre.

Kyubi cursed himself again…the boy's frantic mind was impossible to control.

Naruto's eyes were wide, streaming out water that he hadn't even drank. He clutched desperately to the kunai as if it were a lifeline.

'…maybe…it's the truth…'

Kyubi would have gasped if he had a real mouth…things were only going to get worse for now. His plan was backfiring in his face, and things weren't looking like they were going to change anytime soon.

'…I don't…wanna hurt them…I just wanna be…liked. If I…if I…d-do what they want…they'll like me…they'll accept me…they'll remember and acknowledge me…If I d-die…they can't hate me. I'll have done what they wanted…and they'll be happy…and they'll be…happy.'

A quivering hand brought the kunai out as far as his arms could reach. It was joined by the other as they turned the blade back on the user.

…kid…don't be stupid…

'…they hate me now…'

…then hate them back…make them pay for hurting you…turn on them and make them pay. Kill them…just kill them…you want to…just do it…

Kyubi's voice sounded like it was getting desperate, had Naruto been in his right mind, he would have thought it odd that the fox sounded like he almost cared.

'…but I don't wanna hurt them…just make them happy…this is how I'm gonna do it…'

He bowed his head in shame and pulled the blade to plunge right into his heart.

Before contact could be made, his arm paused in mid-air. His eyes opened to see his right arm covered completely in red chakra.

…I'm not letting you do this to me…

'You don't have a choice…this is your fault…your gonna pay too.' There was anger in his thoughts again. For a moment, Kyubi thought he had broken through to the normal Naruto and the boy would stop this…he was wrong.

Gathering all the chakra he could muster, Naruto focused it on his arm, in a quick move he over-powered the chakra holding his arm.

The Kyubi had underestimated him, like everyone else...only he wouldn't have the chance to live to regret it.

The kunai lunged forward before Kyubi could stop it…all he could do was watch.

…damn you…

Naruto shut his eyes and waited for the end to come.

Author: Hey…that turned out pretty good I think…I gotta say, that's the first chapter in this fic that I've felt confident about. Sorry about it being to so long, at first I thought I wouldn't be able to write a long enough Naruto scene so I wrote the others to fill the gap…when I got the Naruto scene…things just kind of wrote themselves, so, hope you enjoyed.

I think I have a problem with being a bit anal retentive about details from the original manga…I've edited and fixed a crap load of stuff for this fic so far…and I fear that more will happen. I'll make sure to let you know if changes are made so you won't have to read it again.


	4. Chapter 4

Author: Ok…sorry to all of you who weren't sure if this fic was over yet or not. Um…yeah its not. heh. Actually I'm planning to end this with about 6 chapters, and this one (and the next one) are actually where I got the title for this fic.

Right now I'm on my computer and not my parents' one, and I don't have internet as I'm typing this…so I don't really have the reviewer names to reply to, but I remember most of the questions (I think) that I need to answer.

Concerning Pairings – This fic itself will only have a slight pairing that is a het pairing. There will be more, but that will be in the sequel that I plan to write, it will be just a romance fic that should be pretty fun to write.

Uh…I'd also like to thank the guy who sent me the flame for doing it courteously instead of being a jerk about it. It means a lot to me to know that you respect me enough to tell me my mistakes without being a jerk.

And concerning the flame…yeah…I kinda forgot about Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Iruka's places in Naruto's "friends" list…but I really don't have the desire to go back and edit them in anymore. So for simplicity's sake…he just thought they didn't like him while he was in his fit of Kyubi induced psychotisism (I think that's a word). The sealing…I meant for Shikamaru to imply that when he said "used to" he meant, their grandparents had heard bed-time stories about how it used to be done…I had to get a little creative there so…that make sense? It does to me at least…Also, uh…I need Nira. That's the only reason that she didn't get smoted…she has a place in my sequel that may end up being very important so I decided to leave my options open.

That's all I think…so…

Chapter 4:

The feeling itself was completely indescribable. Almost like a concept instead of a physical feeling. A dream in which one knows what transpired, but doesn't remember the moment in which it happened.

He knew that the blade slid easily into his chest, he watched it glide towards him through glistening eyes. Time slowed down as the blade drew closer and closer, but when it connected, when it parted the flesh and sunk into his heart…there was no pain. It felt more like a shock and tingle, than any bladed wound he had received in battle before.

His body might have shook a bit as his heart pumped furiously it's last few times, but he didn't feel it. Loosely, his vision had caught a glimpse of red, but that was all. His consciousness and his vision faded quickly into a blur.

But that's not what scared him…

He expected that…

What scared him was that the blur that had covered his eyes returned with him as the darkness faded away. Within moments, his vision returned to him completely, and he found himself in the living room to his apartment.

When everything had fully cleared, he looked around. The clothes were still strewn around, along with the cups of ramen and various dirt. Even the mirror that had haunted him earlier was still just the way it had been before.

His memory returned all at once as he registered what had happened to him, and what he had done to himself.

'What's going on here?' He thought to himself, visibly confused.

He strolled across the room to find a chair to sit on, avoiding the rubble of garments and ramen bowls. In an attempt to gather himself together and figure out why he was still alive, Naruto sat down.

Or whether…tried to sit down.

He fell right through the chair, and stopped in mid air right above the floor, levitating.

"Huh?" A bit dazed, Naruto looked over himself, alarmed by the fact that the chair must have moved, and even more alarmed at the fact that he was floating. He became aware of a warm sensation one of his legs which was currently being "pierced" by a chair leg.

His leg moved out of natural reaction before he actually screamed, fading out of the chair leg.

Naruto could count on his hands the times when he was so speechless that not even a peep came out of his mouth…this was one of them.

He experimented a few more times with this, moving his leg through the chair leg multiple times.

'What the?'

He felt the same tingle in his hand as it dropped through the floor of his apartment.

'This isn't gonna work…I wonder if I…'

Naruto willed himself mentally to rotate in the air, and his ethereal body complied. In a moment he was face up with his legs and torso in the room below him.

'Okay then…I should be able to…'

Another whim and Naruto floated upwards until he was fully into his own apartment again. He floated a bit above the ground, bobbing slightly.

'Oh right…I'm dead.' Relief settled over the ghost boy as the confusion melted away. 'I was kinda hoping to go onto an afterlife…I guess being stuck here counts as Hell though.'

He sighed to himself and floated over to the window to see the sun rising over the walls and shining a bit into the city.

'May as well see the celebrations and stuff over my death…' He drooped physically at the thought…spending eternity here truly would be Hell.

With that he passed through the window and floated ominously down one of the many nameless streets of Konoha.

In some ways, it was nice to be out there with the fresh morning. He could still feel the cool morning air and wind, and he could still inhale to take in the scents. The street he was currently on was calm without the many Konoha residents around to walk through them. He could see various stores and shops that never held any significance before and didn't now. A few were starting to open, disturbing the peaceful quiet, while the rest stayed closed.

Naruto passed by one of the opening shops to see the shopkeeper had a wide smile on his face as he set out the "Daily Special" sign. Naruto's expression changed to anger, the date was marked as Thursday, Nira attacked him the day before…there was no question in Naruto's mind about what the shopkeeper was smiling about.

Quickly, he floated straight up so that he couldn't see the smug looks on the faces of anyone else that came out. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Hokage's office.

'May as well see what the old hag is up to.' His thoughts refused to get any brighter.

With that he made his way towards the office, making sure to stay far enough above the streets. Once he reached the building he made his way for the window that he knew was none other than Tsunade's office.

His ethereal body fazed right through the glass window, a tingle went through his body in unison with the glass. He found himself in the office, papers strewn everywhere, the area looking like a complete mess. But nowhere amongst the rubble was the sleeping form of Tsunade he expected to see.

"Well that's odd"

His voice rang a bit in the stillness of the room.

He floated to the door into the room and fazed through it into the lobby to find Shizune sitting at a desk looking a bit troubled. Naruto noticed the expression , and was about to ponder it when Hiashi walked up behind him and fazed through him, stopping at the desk.

"I'm here for this meeting."

His voice was cold as ice and Naruto imagined his eyes were even colder. He floated up just in time to see a still troubled looking Shizune point Hiashi to another door down a short hallway.

"She's in there…"

Hiashi blinked his eyes and tucked his head a bit in a slight bow, before wordlessly turning down towards the door. Of course, Naruto followed him down the hallway and into the room.

Before him was a well polished table stretching near 30 feet one way and 3 the other. Lining each side, sat various men and women, of each of them, Hiashi looked one of the youngest. A few of them he recognized from the clans from the genins he once called friends.

The was the sound of a throat being cleared, and all eyes turned towards a very determined looking Tsunade sitting at the head of the table.

"Good morning all of you, I'm sure your all wondering why I asked you all here so suddenly."

There was a slight murmur when Tsunade let a break in her speech be heard.

"Well, as you know, the Hokage oversees every major and most minor events in all of Konoha, and it is my duty as such to pass judgement according to the laws set down for both ninja and civilian alike. Also that it is customary that whenever the laws which are used to govern need to be changed or wavered, a council of the clan heads must come to a majority vote."

There was a slight murmur again showing the rising tension in the room.

"Well, that is why you are here. I come before you all to waver one of our oldest laws due to certain circumstances regarding a young ninja of this village that has done much in his time."

There was silence.

"Uzumaki Naruto ended his own life yesterday around late afternoon, as you know, our customs don't allow us to give funeral rights and honor to those who die without it; however, this young man did more for this village than many of the ANBU that we give honor to everyday."

This time there was dead silence, even the ghost of Naruto was shocked into joining the unbearable silence. It took a moment before the blond could utter words that only he could hear.

"The old hag…is standing up for me?"

His voice trembled for his own quivering ears to hear.

"I am not requesting a large funeral to be held in which the entire village pays respects, I merely ask that those that were close to Uzumaki be given at least this one day off in order to grieve and pay their respects without their duties and traditions getting in the way."

Naruto caught a slight crack in Tsunade's voice by the time she reached the end of her request…was it possible that his death had affected people other than himself? No…no it couldn't have…he was the village monster…he must have imagined the crack in her voice…but what about the quivering on her face that not even her genjutsu couldn't hide…?

A voice dull voice emerged from the darkness, originating from a man of very old age. Naruto didn't recognize the man, but he seemed to be one of the eldest in council. Naruto waited in anticipation to what the old man had to say.

"Why should we wave one of our eldest traditions for the sake of this one boy? What has he done in order to merit such a change? And if I'm not mistaken…was not that boy the carrier of the Kyubi that nearly destroyed everything we hold dear?"

Naruto half expected this…the man had a point…there was no reason for people to pay honor to him, it wasn't like there was anyone to pay honor anyway…What got to him the most though, was that the man's voice didn't ring out with anger and malice like the ethereal boy expected, it held a sagacious tone of wisdom and knowledge. Someone so wise couldn't be wrong…

"Because he was an example of how not to give up, something that all of our young ninja should aspire for. He endured more than any person in this village could bear, and he did it all alone for so long…yet…"

Her face turned down to the table, her gaze no longer focused on the people in front of her. Her voice dropped to a quieter one of pity, despair and sadness.

"He never let anyone see how hurt he was…he always endured with his head held high. Trail after trial, defeat after defeat, one unacknowledged victory after another, yet he still pressed on with a smile on his face. His memory should be preserved so that our other ninjas can learn to…"

Naruto's massless eyes were beginning to water at what the hag had said, she meant every word of it he could tell. His heart sank when the next words pierced the air like a sword, a younger council man interrupting the Hokage, something that few ever did.

"Just go and end your life when things gets too rough. That doesn't sound to me like a model ninja, one that I want my grandchildren to aspire to be. No, that demon cub has died, ending a plague on this village once and for all. We were too kind in the first place to allow him to live among us, but now he's dead. Let us just continue to live on in peace and forget the wretched creature."

This voice was full of malice.

Tsunade's head bowed back down to the table, moving away from the near angry clan head that had spoken.

"Do you all feel the same?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. Naruto turned his back and started floating towards the door, he was angry now. If he could have cried, he knew he would've been, but his eyes refused to do more than become heavy as if ready to pour.

"Then I guess there is no point in voting…you are all dismissed."

Naruto heard some shuffling in the room as he fazed out the door and through the roof. His face was expressionless, the happiness for hearing what Tsunade said about him was met equally by the bitterness he felt towards the council and most of Konoha at the time. The yin and yang balanced out as always and Naruto was left with void.

He floated mindlessly, over the city as the sun finished coming up.

Without realizing it, he found himself at the bridge where he and the rest of team seven met in the morning. He was about to leave when he heard a loud sigh from the distance behind him.

He turned to see Sakura emerging from the greenery and heading for the center of the bridge as always, Naruto assumed to wait for her precious Sasuke-kun. He seethed inwardly at first at the thought before something hit him. Sakura wasn't cheery like normal, she didn't have the look of passive confidence or slightly cheery step she normally had when expecting to see Sasuke. She looked abnormally calm actually, possibly sad, she kept looking over her shoulders and in all directions as if looking for somebody. But the looks didn't have the desperation they held when looking for Sasuke…

So she was looking for someone else…but who?

She reached the center of the bridge and leaned against the side railings, her arms crossed underneath her chin, her eyes held a sadness that Naruto had only seen a few times. It looked like there was a lot on her mind, an expression of slight guilt was also present on her features. She sighed once again before looking around once more for whoever she wanted to find.

Naruto floated down in front of her, hovering over the water and stared at her sad eyes. It was odd seeing those emerald eyes so close to tears, the last time he had seen them like that was when Sasuke had left to the Sound. He heaved a sigh before he heard another set of footsteps approach. These, a lot quieter, even Naruto could tell who was coming now.

…Sasuke…

Sakura's eyes rose rather drearily to Naruto's surprise as she turned her attention to Sasuke.

"Sasuke…" Her voice was still quiet, echoing the expression her body showed. "Have you seen Naruto-kun yet? I still have to apologize for yesterday…"

"That dobe? He's probably still sleeping" Sasuke's voice was colder than usual, a tinge of uneeded malice colored his voice.

Naruto by this time had risen back to the center of the bridge. He was about to start fuming when he realized four things. 1) Sakura didn't have that whining tone in her voice. 2) She hadn't flocked over to him like she always did. 3) She said something about apologizing. And 4) She had just asked _Sasuke_ about where Naruto-_kun_ was.

Naruto was in awe and was silenced. Then he noticed that Sakura was too.

Her eyes went to the ground, and her fist crumpled up. The trembling in her body was matched only by the trembling in her voice.

"How could you still say that about him knowing all he's been through?"

He looked up at her as if what he didn't care about a word she said.

"Because he's not the only one that has had to deal with pain. He should consider himself lucky, he is about as strong as they come, and he doesn't have to worry about people annoying him all the time."

He spared her and arrogant glance.

'Did he just say that I'm strong…?'

Naruto watched the scene before something else even more surprising happened.

There was a puff of smoke, and Kakashi was there amidst the two. The jounin for once was silent as he made his entry, his trademark "yo" was just as absent as his renowned tardiness.

Sakura bit back something as Kakashi appeared, she turned to the jounin, ignoring Sasuke.

"Kakashi-sensei? Your on time." A smile was working it's way across her face, and even though the teacher's face was covered by his mask, she could tell he wasn't smiling back.

When he didn't respond, she spoke again.

"Well Naruto-kun's late today, isn't that funny?" She forced out a bit of a chuckle trying to break the rising tension. Kakashi visibly shuddered at the comment, Sasuke walked over with his arms crossed, a bit of a scowl on his face.

"That idiot is probably still asleep."

Kakashi was still speechless, the gaze in his one visible eye fell to the ground for a moment before making it's way to back to his team.

"Naruto will not be joining us today, instead we will have Hyuga Hinata transferring to our team for a short while."

"What? Why isn't Naruto coming today?" Sakura was the next to speak.

"I will explain that when Hinata gets here."

Sakura's eyes fell to the ground as a bit of guilt washed over her.

"Why is Hinata joining us, what about her team?" Sasuke's normally cold voice broke the silence next.

"Her teammate Inuzuka Kiba was hospitalized yesterday, so her team was split up until he recovers, Aburame Shino went to join Asuma's team in place of Nara Shikamaru for the time being."

Sasuke "hmphed", it was obvious to everyone that he didn't want to work with one he thought as weak as Hinata.

Naruto tensened at his action, Hinata had been a friend of his, she had proven that she had the will to fight when odds were stacked against her, strong or not she was brave. Even if she hated him now…that was still no reason to let Sasuke get away with insulting her like that.

All three ninjas looked up at the same time, towards some of the trees leading into the clearing they were in.

"Sounds like she has arrived…" Kakashi's voice was grim. Telling Sasuke about what happened wouldn't be too bad, the boy had seen so much death that he figured the most he'd have to worry about was the boy withdrawing into a shell. Sakura would be worse, she had grown a liking for Naruto and had begun respecting him as a valued team member, even though he still annoyed her, she had grown to be good friends with the blonde. Hinata was a completely different story. He had no idea how she would react to this, everyone except Naruto knew she had a massive crush on him but never had the guts to tell him. She had a rather passive and almost frail personality…finding out about Naruto's death would definitely hurt her the worse…he just didn't know how he would handle whatever she did.

Almost as if on cue, as the pale eyed girl walked into the clearing, any noises from the animals in the surrounding forest stopped. The previously unbearable silence had increased tenfold as even the wind stopped blowing. Sakura held back a shudder, Kakashi arriving on time had been a bad omen, but this was far worse…she was starting to wonder whether Naruto was alright or not.

Naruto saw the look of guilt that Sakura had donned on Hinata's face as well, except on her it had increased ten-fold. Instead of just her fingers being entwined, both of her hands were together, fidgeting madly. It looked as if she was so guilty that she could cry.

She made her way through clearing until she reached the bridge.

"Good Morning Sasuke, Sakura-san, Kakashi-sensei"

She bowed to Sakura and Kakashi, her voice quivering from timidity and whatever else was bothering her.

Sasuke didn't seem to mind Hinata's greeting, instead he turned to Kakashi and broke the silence yet again.

"She's here, now are you gonna tell us what happened to the dobe and why he's not here?"

Hinata and Sakura seemed hurt, Kakashi turned his back, his head bowed.

"Y-Y-you know where N-Naruto-kun is?"

'Naruto-kun? But, just yesterday…she said just…but now…what's going on here?' Naruto was confused by the girl's choice of words.

"I-I went to his a-apartment yesterday…b-but he wasn't home. I w-wanted t-to apologize."

Her eyes stared at Kakashi's now tensed back, slight hope in her eyes.

"P-please tell me where h-he is Kakashi-sensei, so that I can go…"

He cut her off, his voice was more muffled than it normally was by the mask.

"That won't be necessary…"

There was a gasp from Sakura and Hinata, the Hyuga's normally mysterious and beautiful eyes were fully aware as her heart began to race. Even Sasuke's undivided attention was on the jounin.

Hinata began to stutter something as she tried to make coherent words but was once again cut off by low voice of Kakashi.

"Naruto-san…is dead."

There was silence once again as both Hinata and Sakura's hearts ceased beating for a moment. Sasuke was fully attentive now and had pushed off the tree he had started leaning on, his eyes wide open, staring at the jounin.

Kakashi took a deep breath and continued on.

"Yesterday…Tsunade-sama sent someone to check on Naruto-san after the incident with the Inuzuka girl. When they got to his apartment they found him…laying out on the floor…there was a kunai in his chest…and blood all over his arms and hands."

Hinata started to cry.

Sakura fell to her knees, her eyes dulled over from shock.

Sasuke stood there, regaining his composure, shocked that it had happened, not willing to show it.

"They searched the apartment for traces of a murderer…"

"But they found none right?" Sasuke managed to pull himself together in time to interrupt the jounin. His voice rang out more frozen than they had ever heard before.

Kakashi didn't answer, confirming they're fears.

Hinata without word, took off into the forest faster than any of them had ever seen her run. Her wails and screams drew out the obvious path they had taken.

Sakura managed to get to her feet, still recovering from the shock, she looked up at her sensei's back.

"Dobe" Sasuke calmly muttered before taking off slowly towards the forest.

Naruto was thoroughly confused by everyone's (except Sasuke's) reaction to what just happened. Needless to say, an expression of awe was written on his ethereal face, his mouth hung open as he looked from Sakura to Kakashi to the path Hinata had taken.

"K-kakashi-sensei…please tell me…it's not true…it can't be…"

"Go home Sakura…"

"Please…answer me…tell me your lying…"

Sakura's voice was beginning to raise as tears began to stream out of her eyes.

"Go home…"

Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving only Sakura and the fleeing Sasuke.

Sasuke was almost at the edge of the forest when he heard Sakura run up behind him. He turned cooly, his hands still in his pockets. His eyes were half closed as if they were bored.

"What do you want?"

Sakura stopped, the tears had stopped flowing now. Naruto's ghost followed her, slightly eager yet hesitant to see what she was going to say to her precious…

"Sasuke…" Her voice quivered, holding back her rage.

'Wait… '_Sasuke_' again? I thought she'd be clinging to him like no tomorrow for comfort or something.'

"How…how could you say such a thing?" Quivering emerald eyes met distant black ones.

Sasuke didn't respond, not even as much as a gesture or a grunt.

"You…"

"Bastard" Naruto muttered, as if he could be heard.

"…Bastard…" Sakura finished her voice still quivering, now her eyes were tearing again.

'Whoa…never saw that coming…'

Sasuke remained motionless.

"How could you…after all we've been through together…we've faced our toughest challenges as a team. We've grown and risked our lives for each other…we've bled for each other…and you've almost died for him…yet you can still be so cruel?"

Naruto was moved by the sadness in her words.

Sasuke wasn't.

The tears of sadness in Sakura's eyes were replaced by those of anger as she rose her voice.

"I don't get it Sasuke! He went out of his way to go get you so you wouldn't be chased down by hunter-nin. He did it without so much as a second thought, he saved your life by keeping you away from that bastard Orochimaru. All he ever did for you and me, he did it selflessly, all he wanted in return was that we be his friends. That's all he wanted! He saved your life and you still have the audacity to act like it was nothing…like he was nothing!"

Sasuke started to shift under her gaze but still remained silent.

Then Sakura did what she, Naruto, Sasuke, or anyone else in Konoha wouldn've never expected her to do.

She slapped the great Uchiha Sasuke.

The two remained motionless, caught as if in a picture of the moment right after the world seemed to end. Sasuke's head was turned slightly to the side, a red hand-print was slowly taking life. His eyes were in shock at the girl's actions. Sakura on the other hand, was standing there, her arm still outstretched, her head bowed to the ground, she was sobbing again.

"I used to think that there was more to you Sasuke…I believed with all my heart that there was something in you that was worth loving. That if I chased you long enough, you'd finally open up to me. I always hoped that there was more than just this shell that you surrounded yourself in Sasuke, this shell of hate that you got yourself trapped in. But it seems I was wrong."

She looked up into his eyes, then stepped back. Her eyes burned with loathing for the Uchiha in front of her.Her usually cheery smile was replaced by a scowl that attempted to incinerate the shadow of a human in front of her.

"There is nothing more to you that just that, an empty shell unable to feel anything. All you do is hate and act like your better than everyone, and that everyone else doesn't matter. I don't know why your like that Sasuke…but I don't care anymore."

Naruto opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Sasuke's eyes were forced to look away from the girl as he could no longer bear to look her eye to eye.

"I'm done following you Sasuke…I'm done hoping that your more than you seem. I'm done looking for your frozen heart…I am. I've already wasted too much of my time on you, you asshole. I won't waste anymore…"

She walked past him into the forest leaving an awestruck Naruto. At that moment, the incredible Uchiha Sasuke, number one in his rookie class, survivor of his murdered clan, avenger to his friends and family…

Broke.

"Do you know why I do this? Why I refuse to care about his selfish death? Why I choose not to acknowledge all the things he's done for this team…for me?"

His voice was louder than normal, almost shouting but not quite. It nearly quivered with an emotion that Naruto could not identify, the emotion was raw…and for the first time Naruto had ever heard…it was real.

Sakura continued on, she might have been listening but she just kept walking.

So Sasuke continued.

"It's because I've already seen too much blood already Sakura…I've already seen too much death. I've already lost those that were close to me and it was too much then. Everyday, it burns at me, the sadness of knowing that all I loved were taken from me and I couldn't do anything to stop them. I can't bear to feel that way anymore Sakura…I can't bear to care about his death…I can't bear to care about anyone."

Sakura stopped without turning around. Her voice was still angry, though she did not shout.

"Everyone has pain Sasuke. Grow up and face it instead of hiding form it. If you can't deal with people dying, then hang up your shuriken now."

Then she kept walking leaving a very surprised Uchiha and Uzumaki. It wasn't long before she disappeared into the forest, this time Naruto didn't follow her.

Naruto turned his attention back to Sasuke when he heard a muffled thud. He turned to see Sasuke with his fist against the trunk of a nearby tree, the bark was shattered where his fist made impact.

"Naruto-kun…"

His voice was so quiet that the ghost could hardly hear it.

"Why…?"

He sunk to the ground, dragging his now injured fist along the bark on the way down, a small trail of blood marking the path. He sat on his knees, propped against the tree with his fist, staring at the roots blankly.

Now was the time to leave decided a troubled Naruto. He floated up into the sky, leaving the training site behind. The sun was high above his head.

'The Academy should be in session now'

Naruto's thoughts sounded gloomy in his head.

'I guess I'll go check on Iruka-sensei and see how he's doing.'

Author: Hey, I know that I said I wouldn't translate original techniques because of my uber bad japanese, but I really want a specific one. So if anyone knows the translation for "timeless eye" or anything similar to that, please lemme know.

And forget what I said about 6 chapters…this one was long already and I had planned to add the Iruka and Konohamaru visits too. WAAAAYYYYY too long, so I am going to end this chapter now and get on the next one once I write my Inuyasha chapter. Uh…I'm sorry for those of you who might have wanted to see Hinata chased…I got lazy and never thought of something for her yet aside from crying and running away. I have other plans for her reaction a bit later after I cover the next visits.

Oh, and the Iruka and Konohamaru visits are the last ones that I have planned for now…if you guys want me to write in some other visits, uh let me know who and I'll think about some possible things to happen during the visits. Just realize that this story is not going to have any pairings so if you want pairings, you need to let me finish this one so I can work on the sequel.

I think that's all so…

Until next update.

Choaness.


	5. Chapter 5

Author: Yes, I'm finally updating again. Lol, sorry about the wait.  
  
I had a revelation for an idea that will make my fics a bit more interesting. Starting with this chapter, I will put up a list of songs off the Naruto Soundtracks to help bring out the mood of the scene better. I'll let you know when to start or stop a certain song when I want you to. This is to be done only to help give a better feel of the scene, not to be done as a copy of the anime (as in, there may be a scene of Naruto walking down the street and I'll cue to play Kakashi's Theme, even though Kakashi might not be showing up at all, just because that theme captures a specific mood.) Don't expect everything to be timed perfectly, you may need to replay, or stop certain songs early in order to try and get what I am attempting here. This is really an experiment on my part, Lemme know if you guys think it works out better.  
  
A direct link for the page to get the songs is on my bio, its at Narutofan, that's also the place where I get manga downloads too.  
  
Oh yeah, **Repcraptor** – As interesting as it would be to have everyone see Naruto, that would kinda put a hitch in the "How do people react with him gone" angle so, sorry, but no can do.  
  
Other than that, I'm convinced that I will add in an extra chapter or two to show more of the characters, but to you who asked for Gaara...that probably won't happen because that would be REALLY hard to fit into the story.  
  
I heart Naruto reviewers.  
  
Songs needed for this chapter:  
  
"Loneliness", Soundtrack 1, Track 9   
"Morning", Soundtrack 1, Track 4   
"Sasuke's Theme", Soundtrack 2, Track 5   
"Hinata vs. Neji", Soundtrack 2, Track 12   
"Sadness and Sorrow", Soundtrack 1, Track 8  
  
Chapter 5:  
  
_(cue "Loneliness")_  
  
Naruto's ethereal body floated up into the clouds, hiding himself in the clouds though no one could see, the air of the high altitude was much cooler and in some ways, more comforting. He reflected on the scene he had just witnessed in his mind, trying vainly to make sense of what just happened.  
  
Sakura had not only turned away from Sasuke, but had slapped him too, on top of that, she offered him none of the quick redemption she normally readily gave the boy. Sasuke had actually opened up to her, and she just turned him down. Part of Naruto expected fire to rain from the sky as the next sign of the apocalypse.  
  
'The hag's seal is much better than that last one that Sasuke had though.'  
  
His mind drew the memorized picture of the small black slash over Orochimaru's seal on Sasuke, being the last evidence of its existence. The seal itself was no more than tanned skin in a slight outline of its former self. Sasuke didn't have to keep his emotions in check anymore, not with that new seal covering it.  
  
He heaved a heavy sigh, he never expected Sasuke to care, well not after the incident with the Inuzuka girl, but then again he hadn't expected anyone to care. He was pretty sure the day was still to be full of surprises.  
  
With another sigh, he set his sights for the academy below him and descended to the streets once again.  
  
_(end "Loneliness")_  
  
_(cue "Morning")_  
  
It didn't take long to get to the streets, and from there the Academy was only a few minutes away with the ability to faze through houses. It wasn't long before he found himself in the playground that he had spent so many lonely lunches at. He passed a glance at the swing set he had sat in every time he had failed the graduation exam.  
  
His face twitched at the memory before he turned completely and floated over to the door, fazing through it, into the wooden halls.  
  
With practiced ease, he found his way into the classroom that he knew Iruka taught in. A few more memories brought him to smile as the thought of him running in late and being scolded by his father figure came to mind. If anyone would care, it would be Iruka, that much he knew.  
  
He fazed into the room, Iruka was lecturing, his back to the unruly group behind him, while writing on the chalkboard. Naruto faintly recognized it as a teaching on the ninja code, behind him, most students were giggling, passing notes, and doodling, with a small few that were taking notes. Iruka normally had a 6th sense about things happening in the classroom that shouldn't be, Naruto couldn't count the times when Iruka had caught him doing things he shouldn't have been doing without so much as even turning around. For Iruka to let such a thing go for so long meant one thing...he didn't care.  
  
_(end "Morning")_  
  
_(cue "Sasuke's Theme")_  
  
Naruto drifted to the back of the class, recognizing only two of the students. Moegi and Ueda (I really don't know his name), Konohamaru's friends...but Konohamaru wasn't there.  
  
He passed over the heads of a few other students and saw a doodling that was being passed around, with a stick figure in the middle, one could tell it was meant to be Iruka from the pencil drawn hair and head band. There was a slash mark across his face, stretching a few inches off to either side, it was circled and under the picture was a poorly written caption. "That musta been a bitch to get" (A/N: Stolen righteously from my brother Dalcacris)  
  
The picture was passed to another kid, burst into a fit of giggling before passing it on.  
  
Naruto grimaced and punched at the back of the kid's head, forgetting for a moment that he was a ghost. His hand flew right through the kid's head altogether.  
  
There was a heavy sigh from the front of the room. Everyone (including Naruto) looked up to see Iruka's back slump and his forehead lean against the board he had been writing on.  
  
"Guys" his voice was unusually sad, even the students who had been giggling to themselves the entire time stopped at the sheer depression in that one word. All eyes were on Iruka as he continued. "you have an extended recess today, I'll come get you when its time to come back to class."  
  
Without another word he went to sit at his desk, resting his head upon the hands that were being supported by his elbows. His students followed suit, noiselessly leaving the classroom, ghost student and teacher left alone in the quiet of the nearly vacant room.  
  
Naruto eyed the teacher for what seemed like 10 or 15 minutes. The expression on the adult's face never shifting, unknown amounts of sadness leaked through his eyes and heavy sighs. A pang of guilt hit Naruto at the reaction of the adult, his first and truest friend, the one whom he could've called father. He wanted so badly to shout out to the man that he was alright, and that there was no need to worry, to tell him he never ended his own life, and that nothing had changed, but it had. He knew that, and unfortunately things could never be the same again.  
  
_(end "Sasuke's Theme")_  
  
(Author: Sorry no song for this part)  
  
He was about to faze through one of the walls so that he could get away from the area, when he heard the door slide open. He turned to see none other than Kakashi enter the room. He turned to the teacher sitting at the desk, acting as if he didn't even notice the man enter.  
  
"I saw the kids out in the playground, I figured something was wrong so I thought I would make sure your alright."  
  
"Don't you have a team to be getting to, I know your normally late, but I won't have Nar-"Iruka's voice stayed steady until the pause, losing his resolve as his voice began to quiver almost uncontrollably. "...Sakura-san mad at me for holding you up."  
  
Kakashi heaved a heavy sigh before going over to one of the student tables and sitting down on it, his arms crossed looking over at the board as if it held the key to some great mystery.  
  
_(cue "Hinata vs. Neji")_  
  
"It sucks doesn't it? Not being able to mourn over his death because of some ancient custom."  
  
Iruka shifted a bit where he sat.  
  
"I imagine you and Hinata-san are taking this harder than anyone else..."  
  
'Hinata-chan? Why her?'  
  
"I...just don't understand..." Iruka's voice was shaking thoroughly now. "Why couldn't everyone else just see him for who is was...not for what was in him..."  
  
His voice trailed off leaving a sad silence between the two.  
  
"I mean...it's not like I didn't lose anyone important in the attack..." a few tears began to flow from the man's eyes. "If I could see him for what he was, why couldn't everyone else..."  
  
"...There was no reason to hate him as much as they did..."  
  
He looked up at the jounin, who for once didn't have a copy of Icha Icha Paradise in his hand.  
  
"...Have you ever seen the looks the villagers gave him...?"  
  
Kakashi shook his head slowly.  
  
"...They looked at him like he was a monster...malice in every glare...all of them hated him...it wasn't fair...not to him. He suffered more than anyone after the attack...but no one else seemed to understand that..."  
  
His eyes turned up toward the ghost of Naruto, believing it to be an empty space in the room.  
  
"...I don't blame him in the least for what he did...after all that he had to endure...I just hope that he's in a better place now..."  
  
"We all do Iruka-sensei...we all do..."  
  
Naruto turned and flew out the room through the wall, sunlight streamed onto his ethereal face.  
  
"...I'm sorry Iruka-sensei..."  
  
_(end "Hinata vs. Neji)_  
  
===============================================================  
  
Naruto looked around at the forest area he was now surrounded in, this was the second time that aimlessly floating ended him up in a forest. There was a clearing a little while away, and the phantom ninja headed for it, eager to see if there was anyone there, yet trying to push out of his mind the pain that he had caused those around him.  
  
He entered into the clearing and saw one person. A boy, no older than 8 or 9, standing before a small mound of clay with a stick in it. From what he could tell, there were hand picked flowers in the boy's hands. From the long blue scarf and the helmet on the boy's head, Naruto recognized him beyond a shadow of a doubt.  
  
_(cue "Sadness and Sorrow")_  
  
'Konohamaru...'  
  
The boy floated over just in time to hear whispered words hit the air.  
  
"Boss..."  
  
Konohamaru knelt before mound, eyes in tears before placing the flowers on the grave crudely from inexperience. He placed his forehead against the ground after taking the helmet off and laying it next to him.  
  
"They say that we're not allowed to honor you because they think you killed yourself...but I don't believe that...there's no way you could have...you were too happy for that."  
  
Naruto's heart felt a pain as the young boy sniffled against the cold dirt.  
  
"I don't care what anyone else says...you deserve your honor...you were an example...a role model...a friend...even if you had the Kyubi..."  
  
He sniffled again.  
  
"...I'm sorry I couldn't help you yesterday...Ebisu held me back from getting too close...if I was stronger...I could have helped you..."  
  
There was a small yelp of a cry before his sniffling became louder and more frequent.  
  
"Young master!"  
  
An unplaced amount of relief came from the voice, alerting the two to another presence.  
  
Konohamaru didn't move, nor did he pay any attention to the instructor.  
  
"I'm glad I found you...what are you doing all the way out here? You had class this..."  
  
He stopped when he fully took in the scene before him. He walked over to the young boy that was sprawled out before the grave.  
  
"Young Master..."  
  
"Stop calling me that!"  
  
The boy screamed, pulling himself up and swinging at the man with a kunai wedged between his fingers.  
  
Ebisu took the boy by the arm to stop the blow before gazing down at the angry tears covering his face through his sunglasses.  
  
"I'm sick of everyone calling me 'Young Master' and Konohamaru-sama...I'm just sick of it...why won't you all just acknowledge me as just myself...not Konohamaru-sama, not young master, not grandson of the Third...just Konohamaru..."  
  
The anger died down in his eyes and was replaced by sadness.  
  
"I'm sorry Konohamaru-san..."  
  
The boy looked up at the man cloaked in blue, the tears in his eyes renewed as he thrust his face in the man's chest, quickly soaking Ebisu's shirt.  
  
Ebisu slowly wrapped his arms to hug the boy before looking down over the small grave.  
  
It was a while before either spoke.  
  
"Young Mas...Konohamaru-san..."  
  
He pulled the boy away so he could look him in the face, even behind the sunglasses Konohamaru could tell that the man's eyes were softening.  
  
"It...is forbidden...to have such a funeral for him..."  
  
Konohamaru pushed against the Ebisu, placing some distance between the two. He stood to his feet and put his back to the instructor.  
  
"I don't care Ebisu-sensei..."  
  
The wind blew over the grass in the small clearing, flowers and grass blades alike kneeled in the direction that the boy's scarf was flowing.  
  
"I can't...I can't ignore what is right...I don't care about customs and rules Ebisu-sensei...all I know is what I have to do. I will not...I can not let rules stand in the way of what I know in my heart is right..."  
  
"...That's my way the ninja..."  
  
Ebisu was speechless, but he stood to his feet quietly. He looked over the boy once before disappearing in a puff of smoke.  
  
The sound caused the boy to look back and see his teacher had disappeared. He heaved a small sigh before turning back to the grave.  
  
Seconds later there was another puff of smoke...and there stood Ebisu...with a handful of handpicked flowers in his hand.  
  
Konohamaru turned back to see his teacher reappear, his face lit up a bit to see his sensei with a single tear running down his eye.  
  
"You'll make a great Hokage one day Konohamaru-san..."  
  
And with that, both bodies went back to kneel before the grave.  
  
Naruto looked on in shock over what had happened. He floated up towards the sky, the sun looked as if it would start setting in another hour.  
  
'I'm sorry Konohamaru...'  
  
_(end "Sadness and Sorrow")_  
  
Author: ...wow, that was fun. That last scene almost made _me_ cry while the music was going with it. I think that the chapter was better with music, but that's just me. Let me know what you think, next chapter is the scene with the "Retrieve Sasuke" team, Hinata, and some bad news for a certain genin. I'll probably throw in a tidbit with Ino too maybe.  
  
Yeah I went over and read it playing all the songs as I read so yes I do understand that it is a bit annoying at times since some songs didn't last as long as they should've, but this is really hard. So, I'll work on it, I've got a lot of chapters to write still, and I'll do the same things as long as I don't get too many reviews telling me to stop...Naruto music is just too pimped out though...


	6. Chapter 6

Author: You know, I feel that I should take a moment to send out a small message to anyone who is considering ending their own life. To let them know that there is always someone who will miss them, and that their deaths will always effect someone else in ways that cannot be predicted. To let everyone know to hang on because the pain can only last so long...but I'm fffffaaaaaaarrrrrrr too lazy to do that [turns to Shikamaru to high five, but realizes that that would take too much energy and lays down].  
  
Oh, BTW, you guys can thank **Avalon Hunter** for the quick update, I heard about her puppy's untimely death, and I then made her cry more...so, yeah this is my apology...even though I'm afraid it may make things worse if this one turns out as sad as the rest.  
  
Yeah, I'm glad to see that some of you liked the added music, I got no flames for it so I guess I'll leave it. Uh, I think I'll use less songs per chapter though, so you can enjoy more of the song before you have to change it.  
  
Um...oh yeah...there are a lot of people who cry when they read this fic, lol. It makes me feel all warm, fuzzy, and evil at the same time.  
  
Oh yeah **Chels-Dawg** there aren't any pairings for this fic, but in the sequel it will most definitely not be full of yaoi ones. They don't fit quite right with me, and I just don't think that...well, they make all that much sense...but that's just me.  
  
Oh yeah...and I found out that the kid's name is Udon...hehe...yeah  
  
Songs needed for this chapter:   
"Evening", Soundtrack 1, Track 14   
"Sakura's Theme", Soundtrack 1, Track 10   
"Nervous", Soundtrack 1, Track 6   
"Loneliness" Soundtrack 1, Track 9   
"Sasuke's Theme", Soundtrack 2, Track 5   
"Nine Tails Fox Demon", Soundtrack 1, Track 3  
  
With all that finally done.  
  
Chapter 6:  
  
_(cue "Evening")_  
  
Naruto's ghost floated amongst the clouds for quite some time, it wasn't until he noticed the golden hints that were covering them, that he noticed that the sun was now setting. He looked over the horizon to see the orange and red collide with the sun's natural golden sparkle forming what could only be known as a Konoha sunset.  
  
All the while the same thoughts that had been running through his head for the past hour or so finally made it to his audible voice. It was too quiet in his head, he assumed that Kyubi was gone, and now he felt like a part of himself was simply missing. Thinking was far too quiet, a deep sigh brushed out of his lips before the voice only he could hear came out to greet the clouds.  
  
"Sasuke...Sakura-chan...Kakashi-sensei...Konohamaru-san...Tsunade-sama...Iruka- sensei...Hinata-chan...did you really care all this time?"  
  
Memories of the day so far flashed through his head, looks of misery and sorrow flowed like a river through each memory. All this for the village curse, the village menace, the village dobe.  
  
Naruto shook his head, trying to push the memories from his head, spending eternity here would truly be hell, brooding over everything he saw would only make things worse. Besides, it's not like the people he saw would continue to mourn for him silently, he figured a week for most of them, save Iruka.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large white building marked "Konoha Hospital" down below him.  
  
"Maybe I'll go check up on Kiba, make sure he's alright..."  
  
_(end "Evening")  
_  
Desperately searching for something to take his mind off the people he witnessed earlier, he dove quickly toward the hospital. It wasn't long before he found himself at the door, he fazed right through to find himself in a nearly empty lobby.  
  
There was white tile on the floor that rose up into white walls, contrasting against the blue chairs, and then went up to a white stucco ceiling.  
  
The only ones in the room were the receptionist and the group that had went with him to retrieve Sasuke a few months back. He floated over to the group, hoping that he wouldn't regret this action.  
  
"Can you tell me what room Inuzuka Kiba is staying in?"  
  
Shikamaru's voice was the only one to come out, the boy was a born leader, even now he stood at the center of the group. As much as he hated the responsibility, it was becoming clearer and clearer to not just himself, but all the other genins why Shikamaru became a chuunin.  
  
The receptionist flipped through a few pages without looking up to group before her.  
  
"Room 715"  
  
"Thank you"  
  
As a unit, Neji, Lee, and Chouji followed at the sides along their leader, turning and heading towards the elevator.  
  
"Oh, the elevator is broken so you'll have to take the stairs."  
  
Without another word, the entire group shifted their direction and headed for the stairs, not so much as even a groan from either Chouji or Shikamaru.  
  
"715 huh?"  
  
Naruto smirked a bit as he took off as fast as possible straight through the ceiling, going upwards and watching the rooms pass him by without paying attention.  
  
He counted the floors until he reached the 7th one, and exited the empty hospital room he was in. Once through the door and in the hallway, he turned to see the sign on the door to find out where he was.  
  
"721" He read aloud, completely oblivious to the fact that he was talking out loud now.  
  
He turned and moved a few doors down until he reached room 715, with a bit of a sigh, he fazed through it, eyes shut.  
  
He heard the blipping of the heart monitoring machine as he entered, he opened his eyes to see Kiba laying in the hospital bed, asleep or unconscious, he couldn't tell. On the side of the bed was Hinata, from behind, her head was turned to see Kiba laying peacefully on the bed.  
  
The ghost ventured a bit closer to examine the battered and bruised boy. The thin white sheet was brought all the way up to his shoulders, covering any wounds his body may have had. As for his face, there were a few bandages for wounds that had probably been in the process of healing from his nurse's chakra.  
  
The boy on the bed stirred, drawing the attention of the night-blue haired girl.  
  
There was a slight shift and groan as his eyes slowly opened.  
  
_(cue "Sakura's Theme")  
_  
"How are you feeling Kiba-kun?"  
  
The nervous tone of her voice that Naruto normally heard was gone, and replaced by a raspier, more raw counterpart. It wasn't until then that Naruto actually took a look at the girl's face. It was a bit puffed around the eyes and red, definitely red. She had been crying...for how long, Naruto couldn't tell. But after seeing that same face on himself in the mirror when he was much younger so many times...he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that it had been for a while.  
  
Kiba, on the other hand, hadn't quite fully come to, and missed the change in Hinata's voice.  
  
He groaned again, and winced a bit.  
  
"The nurse wanted me to tell you not to use any chakra until you get a bit better or it'll make the healing process take longer. So you can't use any, even for your nose."  
  
The boy laughed a bit at the comment before looking dazedly around the room.  
  
"Where's Akamaru?"  
  
"Your mom and sister left a little while ago to get him from the vet."  
  
He relaxed his head back into the pillow.  
  
"You know, you'd probably have more luck if you talked to Naruto-kun so calmly too."  
  
The ghost was very confused at this point.  
  
Kiba shut his eyes and a wide smile crossed his face. He envisioned the blush that took over Hinata's face whenever he mentioned the blond in front of her. Injured or not, he was still going to hassle her about him.  
  
_(end "Sakura's Theme")_ (A/N: Yeah, I know it was short. Sry)  
  
_(cue "Loneliness")  
_  
His smile disappeared when he heard a low yelp and then a few sobs. His eyes immediately opened as he focused his attention on the girl. It was then that he too realized that the girl had been crying; unlike the phantom visitor in the room, he could not tell how long.  
  
He turned his body and bit back a grimace, worry painted all over his face.  
  
"Hinata-chan...what's wrong?"  
  
She broke into open sobbing again, her hands covering over her eyes.  
  
Two sets of male eyes looked over her in confusion, neither knowing what to do completely, only one had the liberty to try.  
  
"I-it's Na-Naruto-k-kun..." She managed to choke out.  
  
Kiba sat up, and this time was unable to hold back the pained groan or expression that took hold of his face for a few moments.  
  
"What did he do to you Hinata-chan?"  
  
"H-h-he..."  
  
"He what?"  
  
"H-h..."  
  
Kiba's face tensed, Naruto could see that the boy was imagining countless horrible things that could have been done to the girl.  
  
"H-he k-killed himself Kiba-kun..."  
  
What was open sobs became frantic crying, her wails were only slightly muffled when she pressed her face into the chest of one of her closest friends.  
  
Naruto had heard a cry like this once before...  
  
"Back on the bridge...Sakura-chan cried like that when she thought Sasuke was dead...This girl..."  
  
He turned to see the shaking shoulders of the wailing girl.  
  
"...has she been crying like this all day...?"  
  
Kiba's face initially went pale at the shock of what had been told to him, that face was now covered with a look of pain as his teammate's face was pressed against his injured chest. If there were any words he could find that were appropriate for the moment, he was unable to speak them due to the pain in his chest.  
  
After a moment, Hinata pulled back on her own accord, her puffed, pale eyes stared back into the recovering black ones, before her head bowed back to lightly put her forehead on his chest.  
  
"Y-yesterday..."  
  
Her voice was hardly above a whisper.  
  
"H-he was attacked...by a chuunin who was angry at him..."  
  
Naruto listened in as Hinata began to re-tell the story in a way to alleviate Kiba's sister of involvement.  
  
Kiba stayed silent, not willing to risk missing a piece of the puzzle surrounding the odd death of the only boy known to be louder and more annoying than himself.  
  
"We...all of us...the genin and Shikamaru...we saw it happen...but we didn't do anything...she said she would kill us too if we got involved...so we just stood back and watched."  
  
She started sobbing again, and Kiba started to rub her back lightly, the girl was obviously distressed if she forgot to add the title to someone's name. There was almost no one that the girl wouldn't address with a title, even Neji and Gaara were given one. He gulped, then continued to goad her to continue.  
  
"They fought for a little while...and then...the chuunin said something about...Naruto-kun...and...the K-Ky..."  
  
"The what?"  
  
_(end "Loneliness")_  
  
_(cue "Nervous")_  
  
"The Kyubi..."  
  
Hinata looked back up to her teammate.  
  
"She said that he was the Kyubi..."  
  
Confusion and awe crossed Kiba's face. Naruto tried to hold back a scowl at the mention of the beast that had ruined his life, he was happy knowing that Kiba didn't know, because then the Inuzuka couldn't hate him.  
  
"Th-the Kyubi!? B-but how is that possible?"  
  
"S-Shikamaru explained afterwards...he said that it was probably sealed inside of Naruto instead of being destroyed..."  
  
A disturbing calm fell over Kiba's face, realization and fear surged through his body.  
  
"ANBU came and took the chuunin away...but after everyone left...Naruto-kun spoke to us...but we were so shocked that...we...didn't say much back...he left...and he looked so...angry with us..."  
  
Hinata pulled back and sat back against the back of the seat, allowing Kiba to lay back down. Her gaze at the floor, his at the window across the room.  
  
"...This morning...I found out that he...he..."  
  
"So...Naruto-san's gone then?"  
  
Shock from the moment nullified anything else in his voice. Hinata remained silent.  
  
"I wonder why no one ever told us...after all, as dangerous as he..."  
  
"Naruto-kun wasn't dangerous!" The girl broke in, the sobs stopped as an unknown anger came to the surface. She glared at the boy, feeling the strain of a slightly activated Byakugan.  
  
"I know that Hinata-chan...but I'm pretty sure there were a lot of people who didn't. Like our parents for example."  
  
Hinata's outburst faded away, back into the recesses of her mind where she locked away all feelings of jealousy, anger, hate, etc. Her eyes went back to the ground, the few grown veins near her ears disappeared.  
  
_(end "Nervous")  
_  
"...I just want to know why..."  
  
She was no longer stuttering, but she was clearly depressed.  
  
"Why he would do something like that...didn't he know that there were people who cared for him? People that would be effected by his death...people that would miss him?"  
  
Kiba opened his mouth to speak, but thought against it. By the dazed look in Hinata's eyes, it was obvious that she wasn't listening to what he would say anyway.  
  
"Didn't he understand that there were people who admired him...people that liked him...cared about him? People that loved him?"  
  
Naruto was taken aback at the comment, his eyes went wide.  
  
'Loved...me?'  
  
"...People like...m"  
  
"Hinata!"  
  
The girl was pulled out of her trance by the harsh and slightly shrilled voice behind her. She and Kiba turned to the door to be met with the same Byakugan eyes, except form a smaller vessel.  
  
"Father sent me to come get you, it's time to go home."  
  
The tone was cruel. Hinata shut her eyes, and turned to Kiba, bowed, called out a muffled good-bye, and left with her sister.  
  
The room was silent again except for the constant blipping of the machinery.  
  
"Naruto..."  
  
_(cue "Sasuke's Theme")_  
  
"Hey Kiba-san."  
  
Kiba turned to see Shikamaru, Lee, Chouji, and Neji enter the room all at once. A grin crossed his face at the new arrivals.  
  
'Hey, those guys finally showed up. I never would have figured taking the stairs would have taken so long.'  
  
"No titles guys, I'm not in the mood to be formal."  
  
Shikamaru smirked. The formation broke as each boy went to grab a chair. After a moment they were all sitting around the bed, two to each side. Shikamaru and Chouji to his right, Lee and Neji to his left.  
  
Chouji pulled out a small Tupperware and a pair of chopsticks before handing them to Kiba.  
  
"Here, I know the food here is horrible so I brought you some of what was left of the steak my mom made yesterday."  
  
Kiba took the dish and smiled a bit. He sat up and scooted back to that he was leaning against the head board.  
  
"Thanks man"  
  
He opened the Tupperware and took a whiff, instantly missing his increased sense of smell.  
  
"But, aren't you trying to gain your weight back?"  
  
He passed a glance to Chouji who smiled widely in return.  
  
"Yeah, but my full appetite isn't back yet, so I'm still working on it."  
  
"Sometimes Chouji, I can't tell."  
  
Shikamaru's calm, collected voice had a hint of a chuckle in it.  
  
Laughter arose among the group, even Neji had donned his confident smile as a pleasant replacement for a normal one. When the laughter died down a bit, Kiba started to eat.  
  
There was a moment of silence in the room, Kiba could tell without looking that they were probably trying to decide who was going to tell him about Naruto.  
  
He swallowed what was in his mouth and then proceeded to alleviate them of their dilemma.  
  
"I heard about what happened to Naruto, and about the whole Kyubi thing."  
  
The silence didn't end, it was only emphasized by light sighs that could be heard all around.  
  
Kiba ventured again to speak.  
  
"Who would have thought that Naruto of all people would have such power."  
  
"Power?" Chouji was the first one of the visitors to speak again.  
  
"Yeah, I fought him yesterday. It was odd though, I felt a presence within him, a primal mind, and I used one of my family's jutsus to try and control it, but it lashed out. Next thing I knew, Naruto was standing there, his eyes had changed, and he was blaring this odd kind of chakra. That's how I ended up here."  
  
"Well, that explains why your sister tried to kill him then..."  
  
Kiba looked over at Shikamaru. His face showed his confusion.  
  
"My sister was the chuunin that attacked him?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was her. She had too dogs...I think they were named..."  
  
"Ginmaru and Chimaru. Great..."  
  
"His chakra changed during the chuunin exams too, when I fought him in the tournament..." Neji spoke, everyone turned to him.  
  
"It's a shame that he was born with such a fate...to be given such a great power, only to die believing he was alone..."  
  
'Believing I was alone? It was more than believing Neji...' Naruto's ghost was getting down again.  
  
"But that's the thing though" Lee's voice rang out, not as loud or energetic as usual.  
  
"He wasn't alone." He turned to look up at Shikamaru. "You never told me why you stopped me back there when I could have helped him out."  
  
Shikamaru sighed, he could feel Kiba's gaze on him too.  
  
"She threatened to kill any one of us that interfered shortly before you arrived. I don't know if she would have followed through, but I didn't want to find out the hard way."  
  
Kiba's gaze went down to his legs.  
  
"Nira...why would you do something like that..."  
  
"But if we all would have helped, we could have done something." Lee chimed back in.  
  
"But what would be the cost? If we would have interfered, then she probably would've not held back what she did."  
  
"Held back?"  
  
"Yeah" Kiba added in. "My sister is nearly ready to become a jounin in skill, she must have been holding back."  
  
"I agree" Shikamaru spoke up again. "Waiting like we did made her think she had time, she wasn't focused enough to just kill Naruto quickly like that, so we had to wait on the ANBU to come, otherwise, I'm sure that a few of us would have been killed."  
  
'So that's why they didn't jump in...'  
  
"Besides, I'm pretty sure Naruto wouldn't have wanted anyone to get hurt unnecessarily for his sake."  
  
'Your right Shikamaru...'  
  
"But then again...we didn't need to act like we thought he was a monster as soon as it was all over..." Chouji's voice was the next heard.  
  
"Well, that was a lot to take in so suddenly" Neji's voice was emotionless as usual.  
  
"Still, of all the people there, save Sasuke and Sakura, we should've better than to think that we should have been afraid of him."  
  
"Maybe" Neji sighed. "But some people are born with a fate they can't change...for a while, I thought that Naruto had proven that wrong when he beat me in the exam...but I didn't realize that fate isn't something that can be so easily predicted. You don't know until it's already happened, now we know, his fate was to perish in the way that he did...our actions were bound by the strings of fate...we could do nothing else."  
  
"That sounds to me like your just making an excuse, blaming fate for something because you don't want to take responsibility for your actions Neji." There was a hint of anger rising up in Chouji's voice.  
  
"We are still responsible for our actions Neji, fate or no fate. We have to face the fact that we contributed to the death of one of our own, a fellow shinobi, our friend. We acted just as bad, if not worse than the girl who attacked him, because we weren't there for him when he needed us."  
  
"Your right." Lee passed a glance to Shikamaru before continuing. "Naruto would have jumped in to save any one of us, but we didn't return such a thing. If anything, we didn't deserve him as a friend."  
  
"No Lee, we didn't. I could count on my hands the times I've complimented him when he did something worth acknowledgement." Shikamaru heaved a sigh before turning his glance at the window.  
  
Four other sighs told him the other's felt the same.  
  
"Even without the Kyubi's power, he still was a great shinobi, he proved that to me painfully in the preliminaries..."  
  
"He defeated Gaara of the Sand, something that I couldn't do..."  
  
"He beat me in the exam, and still kept control of such incredible power..."  
  
"He managed to bring Sasuke back, something I could only dream of..."  
  
"He never gave up, even when things became more than just troublesome..."  
  
A heavy sigh rang out from each boy in the room.  
  
"Naruto, we truly didn't deserve the friendship of a great shinobi like you..." The words were spoken in unison before the room delved back into silence.  
  
_(end "Sasuke's Theme")_  
  
"Um...excuse me. Visiting hours are over so if your not family, I'll have to ask you to leave."  
  
The nurse left as quickly as she came, undoubtedly to inform any other visitors on the floor.  
  
"Well I guess that's our cue to leave then."  
  
Shikamaru stood up, the rest followed, each offering a muffled good-bye.  
  
"See ya Kiba"  
  
"Thanks for stopping by guys."  
  
With that the group left the room, leaving Kiba in the still annoyingly bright room. Even though the sun had clearly set outside, the white walls, ceiling, and floor harbored what little light was in the room and magnified it greatly.  
  
He was in the middle of grumbling about it when he felt a familiar presence. A smile crossed his face as he turned to the door, just in time to see his mom walk in, Akamaru in her arms. The pup had some bandages on him, but other than that, he was okay.  
  
"Akamaru!!!" Kiba greeted his nin-dog anxiously. The dog struggled in his mom's arms for a moment before she relented and let him jump the short distance to the bed, landing right on the boy.  
  
Nira walked in next, following the three dogs that made their way in after the woman.  
  
Naruto's face went to a scowl, Kiba's look of joy disappeared when he saw his sister.  
  
His hand unconsciously continued to pet his dog as his attention was focused on her. His mom noticed the growing tension, and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when a doctor came in and requested her presence outside. She nodded in agreement, and soundlessly left her children in the room with the dogs. Naruto made his way to the door, not wanting to stay in the same room as the girl, but on his way out, he heard Kiba speak.  
  
"Nira...did you really attack Naruto yesterday?"  
  
His tone was cold, Naruto heard a slight whimper from Akamaru in reaction to Kiba's out of character behavior.  
  
He fazed through the door, not hearing or caring about the answer.  
  
_(cue "Nine Tail Demon Fox")_  
  
"I have good news and bad news Inuzuka-san."  
  
Naruto turned to see a spectacled doctor in a white coat, his brown hair was combed neatly, and he stood completely straight. The glare from the hall lights on his glasses blocked any sight of his eyes from the ghost's angle.  
  
"Most of the wounds are already healing due to the help of a medic-nin that examined your son. The only serious wound he received was in his stomach. We have done all we can for it but it is completely ruined, if we leave it in there, your son will die."  
  
Kirara stood there, still as stone, urging the doctor to continue.  
  
"A transplant surgery can be done immediately because we already have a donated stomach that matches your son's requirements."  
  
A sigh of relief passed through the mother's lips.  
  
"The bad news though, is that in order to do such a transplant, we will have to cut away part of his chakra circulatory system..."  
  
Kirara's eyes went a bit wider.  
  
"And with our current technology...we can't repair it..."  
  
"Then you mean..."  
  
"Once the surgery is completed...about 90% of the chakra he tries to mold will become wasted...there is a chance that he'll never be able to become an adequate shinobi. I'm sorry...but we have to do this."  
  
"I...I understand..."  
  
With that, the doctor turned and left, leaving Kirara in the hallway. She turned and entered back into the hospital room, shutting the door behind her.  
  
Naruto lowered himself to the ground as if he were standing on it, he lowered his hands into his ethereal pockets.  
  
"Kiba-kun..."  
  
_(end "Nine Tail Demon Fox")  
_  
He looked down the hallway, deciding that it was about time he left for now. He was still trying to decide where to go when his vision suddenly blurred and went black.  
  
Author: Hehe, well that's all for now. I'd say this one was much longer. I hope you guys like...I think that it was kinda weak...but I've thought that about a few of my chapters and you guys seem to think otherwise. Oh well, lemme know what you think.  
  
Argh!! I tried to use less songs, but there was more writing, as you can tell, you don't have music playing the whole time, and most the songs lasted longer...like Sasuke's Theme which you probably had to play 2-3 times while it was cued...sorry about that. Heh heh...Oh and sorry about some of the songs being recycled so soon, really, some of the songs just fit, so I had to use them. Waiting so patiently for a chance to use Orochimaru's fight scene though...such juicy awesomeness in that song...[drool] why did he get such cool music?


	7. Chapter 7

Author: In all honesty, I'm bored as no tomorrow, so I decided to start this chapter. Feh oh well, lol.  
  
BTW, There is a fic that I read from one of the reviewers with my same problem of low self esteem, problem is, their writing is pretty good. **Licht Sieger** wrote (and hopefully is still writing) a fic called "Slow Burn", and I have to say, the story is rather interesting. It's an AU about if Orochimaru gave the seal to Naruto instead of Sasuke...odd? Yeah a bit, but his/her style is better than a lot of the stuff I've seen on so. I encourage you to read it when you get done with this, maybe if a few more reviews go in, they'll get on with the next chapter.  
  
Just to let you know, I'm not doing to much for the rest of the summer so, if anyone wants me to read any of their Naruto or Inuyasha fics, I will, just tell me which one, and I'll read it, give it an honest opinion, and there is a chance that I'll offer to BETA it, but we'll see.  
  
**Evil Kasumi** – I agree with you whole-heartedly, it is such a sad thing to see anyone end their own life. To you, and anyone else who reads this comment, please do not take my laughing approach to suicide in general in such a way that it seems I don't care. Really, I laughed at myself when I stuck my finger in the hot grease at work a week ago, I'm like Mercutio (jokes are my escape) so I laugh at just about anything...it helps me get through stuff. (Not that you sounded to assume differently). Also...giving Naruto Orochimaru resurrection powers kinda sounds like fun [imagines some random body that looks like Ibiki or something acting like Naruto]...well...maybe not. Lol.  
  
**Kyuubi-chan** – Well, in all honesty, yes it is coincidence...because...well, I'm lazy and don't really feel like having a bunch of unnecessary chapters...because...well I don't like them. Meh, don't forget though, Naruto did float around aimlessly for sometime in between if that really helps at all...  
  
**The Shinobi** (anonymous) – Feh, really I'm just lazy and don't really know what kind of genre I put it in...so make assumptions if you want, no skin off my back, ne?  
  
**Kirin Kage the Shadow Girl** – Really, it's nice to listen to random Naruto music when reading Naruto fanfiction, but what I put up are just kinda...well... "I figured their more like guidelines"...heh heh, yeah, I just wanted to make sure everyone is in sync to the way I saw these scenes as I write them, and the music is the same on every comp, so if everyone hears the same thing, then maybe we'll all see it the same way. But then again, they're only guidelines, so you can ignore them if you want to, ALL Naruto music is juicy goodness...especially Orochimaru's Theme/Fight Theme [drool].  
  
**One Azn Dragon** – I kinda didn't want the last one to be as, well, teary eyed. I agree, chapter 4 was actually my favorite one to write, but this one was fun because I found it amusing, the thought of all the guys just strollin along to Sasuke's Theme. And really, I hate seeing other guys cry, cause well, I hate crying myself. Double standard? Yeah, so sorry if you weren't happy do to lack of heavy drama...maybe chapter 4 was a one time thing...I hope not. Lol.  
  
102 reviews...I'm so happy...I can't believe it, you guys have really made my day. After forcing myself to write chapter after chapter of an Inuyasha fic for 3-5 reviews per chapter...it feels nice to not MAKE myself write though lol.  
  
....97,000 words...I've written almost 100,000...so close...so close...  
  
Oh yeah, I decided that this will be the last chapter in this fic, I'm just gonna add another one to my plan and interject it in before the other one I had planned cause well, things kinda go in a different direction after this, and well, the title only fits the chapters so far and this one so...yeah.  
  
Meh, I think that's it.  
  
**Songs Needed:**   
"Confrontment", Soundtrack 2, Track 3   
"Sasuke Destiny", Soundtrack 2, Track 17   
"Survival Examination", Soundtrack 2, Track 6   
"Sadness and Sorrow", Soundtrack 1, Track 8   
"Evening", Soundtrack 1, Track 14   
"The Raising Fighting Spirit", Soundtrack 1, Track 7   
"Morning", Soundtrack 1, Track 4   
"Sakura's Theme", Soundtrack 1, Track 10   
"Glued State", Soundtrack 1, Track 15  
  
Chapter 7:

_(cue "Confrontment")  
_  
"What the..."  
  
Naruto's voice trailed off as his vision began to clear.  
  
"What just happened..."  
  
He looked around to find himself in a forest, the greenery around him was rich and beautiful but not as thick as some of the more wild areas of Konoha.  
  
When he fully came to, registered the fact that he was still floating in mid air, though, where he was and how he ended up here was still a mystery to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few foot prints on the ground, and marks a few trees nearby that showed they had been jumped in.  
  
At least now he was sure he was still in Konoha.  
  
From behind him, he heard a couple voices, though they were nearly inaudible above the light sounds of the forest creatures.  
  
Before turning to find the sources of the conversation, he glanced up through the trees trying to get a sense of time from the sun. After a moment of a failed attempt, Naruto cursed himself for not dying with a watch on.  
  
He turned his floating body and floated through the trees slowly, forgetting that no one could here him anyway.  
  
He reached a small clearing where he came upon two women.  
  
One was standing in the middle of the clearing, her gaze away from the boy and into the forest on the other side. She wore a light blue robe that was loose all the way around her body, from where Naruto could tell, it looked a bit comfortable even though he wouldn't want to fight in it. The girl had long dark blue hair that went down to her shoulders.  
  
Behind her the other was kneeling, dressed in comfortable black pants that clung to the ankles and a black shirt of the same material with sleeves that cut off at the elbow. She had black gloves on, and she wore a jounin's flack jacket over the top of her shirt. The same color hair fell down in front of her shoulders, and undoubtedly over her face as well, from the ghost's position, it was impossible to tell how long it was.  
  
"Is that all you needed to tell me then...?"  
  
The wind kicked up the hair of both women, blowing it to one side, revealing the latter's hair to be about shoulder length, and putting pleasant waves in the former's robe.  
  
Her voice was a bit cold but at the same time it was confident.  
  
"No...Hyuga-sama I've also come to let you know of a meeting of the clan heads, the new Hokage has requested your presence as well."  
  
The standing woman let out a sound something similar to Sasuke's trademark "hn" before speaking again. Her cold voice was still calm over the now dying breeze.  
  
"Okay then, I will be there, you are dismissed."  
  
_(end "Confrontment")_  
  
There was a moment, neither moved.  
  
"Is there a reason your still here?"  
  
A hint of agitation could be heard in her voice.  
  
"One more thing Hyuga-sama..."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Now that father has passed, I think that maybe you should consider producing an heir...most of the clan heads in the past had already begun teaching their children the Jyuken (A/N: a.k.a Gentle Fist, I don't know how its spelled in Jap-English) by the time they are your age..."  
  
"Keep your head out of the affairs of the clan head sister, my having an heir is none of your concern."  
  
There was malice in the words, she shifted a bit, but other than that her body remained still.  
  
_(cue "Sasuke Destiny")_  
  
"...but Hinata!"  
  
The action was so quick that had Naruto blinked he would have missed it. Suddenly, the one kneeling was laying on her side, clutching the side of her face, and the woman in robes had turned around, bringing back her outstretched hand. Pale blue eyes eyeing the woman laying on the ground, trying to burrow into her skin and attack her soul.  
  
'Hinata-chan?'  
  
"That's Hyuga-sama! I trust that I will not have to explain to you again Hanabi, stay out of my affairs."  
  
The voice he could not be the voice of the oh-so-timid Hyuga girl that he had known before he died. Hinata was so warm, so kind, it was possible that the girl couldn't be cruel if she tried. Everything about her screamed sweet and shy. This woman before him held none of that. None of that pleasant warmth that Hinata managed to bring, Naruto hadn't realized it until now, but she was a really nice person...but this woman...this Hinata was nothing like the one he knew. She was so cold, so mean, he was sure that if he had been mortal he'd be shaking right now.  
  
Hanabi struggled to her feet, wiping the side of her face that she had just been hit on. Naruto took this moment to make his way closer to the scene.  
  
"Hyuga-sama..."  
  
She nearly spat the words.  
  
"Mind your tone sister."  
  
Hinata's hands dropped to her sides, the robe sleeves fell over them, concealing any motion they may have been making.  
  
"Hyuga-sama, Naruto has been dead for 18 years now. You need to..."  
  
'...18 years? How did I end up all the way here?'  
  
She was cut off when she was forced to jump back to avoid an open palm strike to her stomach.  
  
"Stay out of my affairs sister! I will not give you another warning."  
  
Her eyes narrowed at her sister who was now 5 feet away from her, the veins from her Byakugan were slowly making their way from her ears to her eyes as she seethed at the woman in front of her.  
  
"Hyuga-sama...if possible, you are even crueler than father. I hope that you die without an heir, that way your anger cannot multiply in whatever child is cursed to come from your womb."  
  
Only now did Hinata retract her arm and go back to full stature, she had a bit of a smile on her face.  
  
"If your so angry about it, you shouldn't have lost the rematch we had here 16 years ago for the title of heir. But if your up for another rematch, then be my guest."  
  
The smile on Hinata's face grew deeper as she turned to the side, Byakugan activating after a moment.  
  
Hanabi looked at her sister and her face twisted into a scowl, her Byakugan activated as well.  
  
Naruto looked back and forth between the two women, utterly confused as to who this Hanabi was, and what happened to the Hinata that he had known before. 18 years was a long time...but this kind of change was insane.  
  
There was a puff of smoke signaling the addition of a third member to the party. Once cleared, a figured donning a black cloak and ANBU mask could be seen, standing between the two.  
  
"Hanabi-san...don't."  
  
_(end "Sasuke Destiny")_  
  
_(cue "Survival Examination")_  
  
There was no softness in the voice, it sounded cold and harsh upon the stilling air.  
  
Hanabi looked up at the ANBU then back at her sister before the intensified veins on her face receded.  
  
"Fine Neji-san..."  
  
At the mention of his name, Neji plucked away the white mask covering his face. He had definitely grown, but not in a way that you couldn't tell who he was, he still had the headband covering the mark on his face. His eyes betrayed nothing with the distant look capable for only one possessing the pupil-less Byakugan eyes.  
  
Hinata's bloodline receded at the new arrival, she tensed up visibly now that he was here, the smug grin on her face now gone. She held up her hand to what seemed to be a one-handed seal.  
  
"Are you here for any particular reason Branch-member?"  
  
Naruto's eyes widened in shock, Neji didn't so much as flinch.  
  
'Branch Member? Why did she just call him that? If anything, she always seemed sorry about the difference between the Main and Branch House families...that she was only one other than me, when I became Hokage, who would have the power and desire to change that. Why was she rubbing it in his face now? She seemed stronger yes...but there was no way she could've surpassed the genius of the Hyuga she?'  
  
"There is no need to hold this seal over my head Hyuga-sama...I have no intention of fighting..."  
  
Hinata didn't say anything, she remained tense, never letting the hand seal drop.  
  
The wind picked up again, locking their silence in place.  
  
It was ages before any of them spoke, it was only when another presence entered the clearing that any words were spoken, but they didn't come from a Hyuga, they came from the lone man that walked into the clearing all alone.  
  
He wasn't wearing anything special, just a gray long sleeve shirt and burgundy pants. If it wasn't for his face, Naruto wouldn't have recognized the man, well, if it wasn't for what was on his face...  
  
Two symmetrical red streaks ran down his cheeks, still proportionally the same as they had been ages ago.  
  
"Kiba..."  
  
_(end "Survival Examination")  
_  
Hinata's form relaxed a bit, but she never dropped her hand.  
  
It was odd, the way Kiba walked, Naruto had noticed. He didn't walk with the practiced grace and silence that came with years of devotion to a ninja's path...he walked...like a normal person.  
  
_(cue "Sadness and Sorrow")_  
  
"...there is a chance that he'll never be able to become an adequate shinobi..."  
  
A pang of guilt surged through the ghostly system as the memory of the doctor's words flew back to the freshest parts of his memory.  
  
The man strolled into the clearing, hands in his pockets...alone...there was a bit of a smile on his face...but part of him was obviously missing.  
  
"Good Morning Inuzuka-sama..."  
  
Neji's voice was as indifferent as the blonde remembered.  
  
"Hey Neji, Hanabi, Hinata..."  
  
The bright look on his face meant to all of them around that the lack of titles was meant to emphasize the informality of the situation, Hanabi and Neji grasped this concept and accepted, Hinata sighed, dropping her single hand, then turned her Byakugan on her once teammate.  
  
"That's Hyuga-sama to you dog-boy, oh wait I forgot..."  
  
Hinata chuckled fiendishly as her words had the desired effect, effectively killing the bright smile on the man's face, it reminded her too much of someone else...she hated to see people smile...  
  
Kiba's eyes hit the ground before bouncing back up again, the mask that he had adopted was falling back into place.  
  
"Sorry about that Hyuga-sama...I just figured that..."  
  
"...Since we've been friends so long it doesn't matter right?"  
  
"Well yeah..."  
  
"You know Kiba...as happy you try to look, you can't fool anyone who can see, it's in your eyes..."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Whenever you try to look happy, your eyes shift towards the ground, if only for a moment...it shows that you lying...always lying..."  
  
Kiba tensed up a bit.  
  
"What's that? Your eyes shifted off to the right...let me guess, your trying to convince yourself that its not just an act..."  
  
Kiba stifled a gasp.  
  
"I'll take it by the gasp that I was right..."  
  
A grim smirk, and the girl continued.  
  
"Your eyes widened a bit, paled and lost focus, a memory I believe...just by the slight shuddering...I'd guess it's about when he died..."  
  
Kiba's head tilted and he bit on his lip, a slight whimper escaped his throat.  
  
"It's a shame really, he was a better than you ever were...in the end you were just too weak I guess..."  
  
"Hyuga-sama..."  
  
"The only Inuzuka who couldn't share his chakra to save his dog..."  
  
"Hinata-chan..."  
  
"You must have been miserable, watching him die, knowing that you couldn't help him...that you couldn't save him...it must have been..."  
  
"HINATA!!!!!!!!!...Just...Just SHUT UP!!!"  
  
The man's shoulders were shaking as twin tears made their way down his face, running over the marks, his voice cracking under the sadness.  
  
"Your sister must have some odd faith in you though...handing over her right as the Inuzuka clan head...to a genin nonetheless...a genin that couldn't even save his best friend in the simplest way...the best friend that was supposedly part of him."  
  
Both the man's hands were clenched painfully at his sides. Eyes shut tight, even Naruto could tell that he was reliving a rather painful memory. From the odd angle, the ghost could still see Kiba's white knuckles.  
  
"Y-You have no idea how painful it was...to see him...to see him dying right in front of me..."  
  
Hinata's grin turned into a light chuckle.  
  
"That's what happens when a dog doesn't have it's owner's chakra to sustain it at the end of it's normal life..."  
  
"...I could only watch him die...that was all..."  
  
Hinata gave another slight chuckle in victory.  
  
"Weakling."  
  
By now words were lost on the man shaking before them, completely caught up in the memory of his closest friend's death. Hinata turned to Neji, the grin still on her face.  
  
"Make sure that he is there for the meeting."  
  
With that, she merely walked away, leaving her final farewell hanging still in the air.  
  
"And to answer your question Inuzuka-sama...no, I will not walk with you to the meeting."  
  
She disappeared into the forest, on her way to the Hokage's office.  
  
With a slight murmur and scowl, Hanabi vanished in a puff of smoke.  
  
Neji was left with the crying man, and the ghost who's presence was unknown.  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
Kiba's sobs were beginning to die down. Neji approached his comrade from long ago.  
  
"How could one boy change her that much?"  
  
He wiped away the moisture left on his face before turning to look back up at Neji. His thin eyes quivered with anger as they stared into those of the man in front of him, begging for an answer to why his teammate had become so heartless.  
  
"I don't know Kiba...sometimes I wonder myself..."  
  
His gaze went past the ANBU, his fists loosened a bit, yet remained clenched.  
  
"Its not even like she talked to him all that much...I know how she felt about him...but...this is insane..."  
  
Neji nodded in agreement before grabbing Kiba's shoulder.  
  
"Come on, you have a meeting to attend to Inuzuka-sama"  
  
_(end "Sadness and Sorrow")  
_  
"Right..."  
  
"You know, you really should stop hitting on her..."  
  
"Yeah, but at least she didn't hit me this time..." Just like that, Kiba's mask was back as a smile crossed his face.  
  
"Yeah..._this_ time."  
  
With that, both men left, walking at a normal pace towards the Hokage's office.  
  
'Wow...that was odd.'  
  
A confused Naruto was left floating in the clearing alone with his thoughts.  
  
'What did they mean by 'how she felt'...how did she feel?'  
  
An image of the girl crying in the hospital over his death came back to his mind.  
  
'Did she really miss me that much? Kiba was right...we never talked, why would she get so upset...and why would she become like...like she is now?'  
  
Naruto shrugged off the questions, curiosity beginning to get the better of him as he remembered that the clan heads would be meeting, maybe he would see a few of his old friends.  
  
Naruto took off straight up into the sky, surveying Konoha from above. The entire town had aged, not too much, just enough to compensate for 18 years. Buildings looked older, some were new, some just weren't there. He could make out a ramen stand or two, and a few other stores he recognized, but for the most part, he didn't care.  
  
The Hokage's office was still where it had been before, and had aged as expected. It was painted a burnt orange now, but the paint didn't look all that recent. Naruto closed in on the building without delay, fazing through a wall and making it to the same lobby he had seen before.  
  
Things had changed a bit, there were a few pictures that weren't there before, the secretary was different of course. Replaced by a brighter looking girl, black hair and sparkling black eyes. Probably mid-twenties, and in all honesty, pretty appealing to the eye also.  
  
'Ero-sennin's eyes would probably fall out ogling her.'  
  
He snickered for the first time in a while at the thought before turning to the room that Tsunade had held a meeting in last time he was here.  
  
The hallway was repainted, but not spectacularly, and the doors looked new.  
  
He made his way through the door to find himself in the same room he had seen before, like everything else, it had been repainted and the table had been replaced with a nearly red one.  
  
Seated around the table were a few people, none of them he could recognize. All at once they stood, facing the entrance and bowed.  
  
_(cue "Evening")  
_  
"Good morning Konohamaru-sama."  
  
Before Naruto could turn around, someone dressed in Hokage's robes walked right through him before a light, yet mature voice rang out from the mix of fabric.  
  
"Good morning to you too Inaki-sama."  
  
He turned to the rest, acknowledging each member, man and woman alike. Naruto took this moment to snake around and get a look at the brat that had shared the dream of becoming Hokage. His face showed that he had definitely matured, yet at the same time, looked like he was not a day older than 21. His hair was hidden in the outfit's hat, but his eyes shined clearly with ambition and love for this village, though it was odd to see him with a mouthful of teeth for once.  
  
"Let us wait for the other council members to join us before we start this meeting."  
  
There was a bit of a smile on his face. A member before him spoke to acknowledge the order before turning and making small talk with some of the others.  
  
Konohamaru let out a bit of a sigh before turning to the door, just in time to see someone enter.  
  
"Ah, Good Morning Uchiha-sama. Glad you could make it."  
  
Sasuke stepped into the room, suppressing a chuckle at the young leader.  
  
"The pleasure is mine Hokage-sama."  
  
With that he walked over to his seat. His grace and swiftness never leaving him, like everyone, his body and face had matured, though not as lightly as Konohamaru's, most likely due to stress...because the Uchiha was always troubled.  
  
A head full of pink hair accompanied the next guest.  
  
"Ah Haruno-sama, it's a pleasure to see you again."  
  
Emerald eyes brightened the smile of the woman before the ghost, in all honesty, she had matured into a beautiful woman. She had an air of confidence about her also as she walked into the room, not quite the same Sakura as before, but not too drastically different. She sat down in the furthest possible seat from Sasuke as possible.  
  
'Still fighting huh?'  
  
In about 20 minutes or so, everyone of his old comrades had entered the room, each being introduced as a clan head much to Naruto's surprise. All of them looked much older, and for the most part, many were happy to see one another, with exceptions like Sakura to Sasuke, and Kiba to Hinata. Everyone of them adorned in flak jackets or with ANBU masks seated in front of them, with the exception of Kiba who sat there not caring about it.  
  
"Good morning everyone, I'm glad that you could all make it for this meeting."  
  
All small talk was silenced as soon as the young man began to speak.  
  
A very familiar smile crossed Konohamaru's face, stretching nearly from ear to ear. Naruto nearly chuckled again at the sight.  
  
'Some things never change I guess. Glad that you were able to fulfill your dream Konohamaru...sama.'  
  
"I like this job, everyone listens to me. I could get used to this."  
  
He still had a little of his boyish attitude about him, the entire atmosphere just seemed relaxed.  
  
"As you know, this is my first day as active Hokage, thus my first meeting of clan heads."  
  
His expression turned serious.  
  
"This meeting to take care of something long overdue, my friends, comrades, even rivals. This meeting is to not only to make an exception of an old tradition, this is to make an actual hero out of one who was cheated out of his glory."  
  
To Naruto's surprise, every one of his old comrades seemed almost excited as the announcement was being made. Though the years had washed away their childish ways of going about it, their eyes all managed to lift up, even the great, lone Uchiha a bit brightened in anticipation.  
  
"I believe that its time that we acknowledge the forgotten hero of this village...Uzumaki Naruto."  
  
_(end "Evening")_  
  
_(cue "The Raising Fighting Spirit")_ (A/N: Wow, a...a happy song???)  
  
Konohamaru let the words hang in the air, he opened his mouth to continue but was caught in silence when he saw Sasuke's hand raise into the air.  
  
"My vote is that we do."  
  
There was a smirk on his face.  
  
"As is mine..."  
  
Sakura was next.  
  
"And mine..."  
  
"And mine..."  
  
It continued this way until the 10 hands of what it seemed could now be deemed as officially friends hung in the air. Naruto could only gape in awe, he thought things couldn't get any more surprising, that was until another hand rose...from one that he didn't recognize.  
  
"If both Uchiha-sama and Hyuga-sama feel this one is worth formal honor, than it seems to me that he does. My vote is with theirs."  
  
"Why not, he held the Kyubi in life and killed it with his death...I guess he really was a hero, my vote is in too."  
  
Naruto gaped, Konohamaru suppressed it for all he was worth. Slowly, a unanimous decision was made and Konohamaru surveyed the room.  
  
"Naruto-san, if only you could see this now..."  
  
Konohamaru whispered the words so quietly that Naruto wasn't sure he heard them at first. He looked around the room at all the people in there, all those that seemed to care, friends and strangers alike...and he suddenly felt ashamed.  
  
An invisible frown crossed an invisible face.  
  
"Well, that was easier than I thought." The grin was back. "So then, what should we do for him then?"  
  
_(end "The Raising Fighting Spirit")_

There was silence in the room as multiple minds began to think.  
  
_(cue "Morning")  
_  
"A statue...we should build a statue to commemorate his achievements. We'll put in the center of town, for all to see."  
  
None other than Hyuga Hinata spoke, her voice no longer chilled, yet still not again warm. She was confident, not uttering a single misplaced sound.  
  
"That's a good idea Hyuga-sama." Konohamaru looked back over the other clan heads. "Everyone else like it?"  
  
The was a collective murmur of agreement from the group.  
  
"Then the Hyuga clan will personally donate enough aqualite to build the whole structure."  
  
"Aqualite?" A voice rang out. "Isn't that the..."  
  
"Yes...The most recent source of the Hyuga family's wealth."  
  
There was a hush amongst the group before another spoke.  
  
"The Aburame clan will contribute by using the Kikai bugs to drill the dyes into the crystal itself for better coloring."  
  
The man known as Shino stood, making his point before sitting back down.  
  
"Leave the building plans to the Nara clan."  
  
"The Inuzuka clan will watch over the statue while it is being buil to make sure no harm comes to it."  
  
"The Akimichi clan will personally move all the Aqualite from the Hyuga estate to the building site."  
  
One by one, Naruto's friends stood up, volunteering the entirety of their clans for any task needed. Naruto felt a pang of guilt run through him, feeling angry at the Kyubi for tricking him, and ashamed at the fact that he had believed the fox.  
  
He had friends...and now, even when he had given up on them, they still pushed and fought for him. He had people to acknowledge him, it had just been too late for him to realize it.  
  
Once all that had been done, each clan head exited the room, Naruto's comrades were the first to leave, eager to get everything started for the building process.  
  
Once the room was cleared Konohamaru walked towards the door.  
  
"Naruto-san...your finally getting everything you deserve, I'm just sorry that it took so long."  
  
With that, the young Hokage was out the door.  
  
Naruto was about to follow him when a familiar dizziness overtook him.  
  
'Beautiful...I wonder when I'll end up now...'  
  
His vision died away as his consciousness slipped.  
  
_(end "Morning")  
_  
===============================================================  
  
"Its...amazing..."  
  
_( cue "Sakura's Theme")  
_  
A voice interrupted the darkness that covered Naruto's eyes. It sounded familiar, he had just heard it little while ago. Soft, confident, caring, he knew it well, he just couldn't put a finger on it.  
  
A hazy blur replaced the black in front of the ghost. He could make out people, quite a few of them...just standing, just standing there.  
  
He blinked away the fog, seeing none other than the comrades from the meeting that had volunteered, seeing none other than his friends.  
  
He could recognize them because they hadn't changed...as a matter of fact, nothing seemed to change, except that it was much colder. Konoha never snowed, but it did get rather cool in the winter...really cool as a matter of fact.  
  
The fact that they were all wearing winter clothes clued him in to the time of the year.  
  
He was about to further ponder the circumstance when another voice broke out.  
  
"Yeah...just like him Sakura-chan..."  
  
Ino turned to Sakura as she spoke, then looked back up, past the ghost. Her eyes shimmered in awe, just like everyone else's there, clan heads and Hokage alike.  
  
Confusion drenched Naruto's face. They were looking at him...well not quite. They were looking past him...but at what?  
  
Naruto spun in the air and was forced to stop as he took in the sight before him.  
  
It was him...  
  
Forever enshrined in a casing of a crystal he had never seen before, colors shining brightly, perfectly matching every detail. Everything to the bright blonde hair, to the bits of blue on his orange jumpsuit was perfect, vibrant, almost lifelike. He was smiling, just like they had almost always seen him, smiling brightly as if there was nothing wrong in the world, his eyes nearly as bright as his hair.  
  
Naruto floated back to get a better sight of the monument, when he noticed there was something else. His arms were crossed and one leg wads raised so that his foot was stepping on something. When it clicked in his mind, he could only continue to gape.  
  
Under his foot, was the pinned down head of none other than the Kyubi itself. Hues of reds and orange colored the fur, it's tails strewn all about, looking so life like that it seemed they would start thrashing about in a moment's notice. Fangs bared, legs bent to pounce, but it's head was pinned under Naruto's foot.  
  
There was a bit of text that Naruto barely managed to notice at the foot of the monument, made up of a solid stone, not nearly as precious as the crystal of the statue, but definitely worth something of sorts. Engraved in the stone were words chiseled neatly and filled with gold.  
  
_Uzumaki Naruto   
The Conqueror   
Friend, Comrade, Rival  
Hero of Konoha  
_  
Naruto felt his eyes get heavy again as if to release tears that couldn't come out.  
  
Below the engraving was a group of slots, each empty and each a different shape and size.  
  
"I think we should get started..."  
  
Konohamaru's voice pierced the awe filled moment.  
  
"Uchiha-sama...you may go first."  
  
Naruto turned in time to see Sasuke step forward and retrieve a small crystal fan from his pocket, white at the hilt and base of the fan, red making the further parts of the fan itself.  
  
'That's...'  
  
"With this crest, the Uchiha give honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
He fitted the crystallized fan into the slot for it, allowing it to shine in light.  
  
"With this crest, the Haruno give honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
Sakura came up and did the same.  
  
"With this crest, the Hyuga give honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
"With this crest, the Aburame give honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
"With this crest, the Inuzuka give honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
Naruto wanted to burst into tears of joy as one by one, his friends gathered before the monument, placing crystallized versions of their clan crests into the allotted spaces.  
  
"With this crest, the Yamanaka give honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
"With this crest, the Nara give honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
"With this crest, the Akimichi give honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
"With this crest, the Rock give honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
"With this crest, I Tenten pledge that my clan gives honor to Konoha's fallen hero..."  
  
'You guys...'  
  
"And with all of that done, I, Konohamaru, 6th Hokage of Konohakagure, seal these pacts into the memorial of Konoha's fallen Hero. Uzumaki Naruto, may your soul rest in peace, and may you realize that you are not forgotten."  
  
With a few short hand seals, Konohamaru placed his hand onto the memorial, the result was a puff of smoke. Once it had dissipated, Naruto looked over to see each crest having been firmly melded into the rock at the base. Seeming to glow just like the rest of the monument.  
  
_(end "Sakura's Theme")  
_  
Naruto floated up to where he could have sat on the head of the monument could he physically touch it. He sighed heavily, his eyes beginning to hurt from the unshed tears.  
  
'I'm sorry guys...I should have never given up on you. Never should have listened to that damned fox. What was I thinking? Giving up so soon, never before had I done such a thing...and the one time I did...'  
  
He shut his eyes tightly.  
  
'...it made me cause pain to friends I didn't know I had...I'm sorry guys...I really didn't deserve friends like you...I never deserved any of this...'  
  
===============================================================  
  
With his eyes shut, the ghost didn't notice his vision blur and fade to black, it wasn't until there was a pounding in his skull that he realized something was wrong.  
  
His thoughts immediately felt jumbled and vague as this head just throbbed where it was. But that wasn't the only thing, as the confusion continued to fade, he realized that something was touching the entire front of his body.  
  
He wearily opened his eyes to find himself looking at a wood floor.  
  
A noise of confusion escaped his lips as he pushed himself against the floor with his hands, forgetting that it wouldn't help. He was surprised when he both realized that, and noticed that his hands were actually making contact with the floor.  
  
Out of confusion, Naruto went to will himself into the air, but found that his body would not lift off the ground. Dazed and confused, the boy pushed himself into a sitting position, looking around what he quickly noticed was none other than his apartment.  
  
"W-what?"  
  
_(cue "Glued State")_  
  
His eyes continued to wander until they fell upon a kunai laying on the ground, inches from where he had just been laying. His hand moved up to cover his heart to check for the wound that he knew he should have, only to find it wasn't there.  
  
"What the...?"  
  
He reached over and picked up the weapon, looking it over as if it held the answers to his unasked questions before slowly making his way to his feet.  
  
"Was all that...just a dream?"  
  
He gripped the kunai tightly by the hilt in his hand.  
  
'What a cruel dream...to think that people actually cared...to think that I had friends...damn fox...this is probably your fault.'  
  
With a sudden burst of anger he threw it across the room, letting it land behind him without caring where it fell. There was only the soft sound of it hitting the wall behind him.  
  
'Damn fox...damn people...damn dreams...'  
  
He turned back to the kunai, having mind to chuck it once again before something caught his eye. Sprawled out on the floor was an old woman.  
  
Dressed in nothing more than a t-shirt and jeans, with grey hair pulled into twin pig-tails, the woman sat there, unmoving on the ground.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Naruto ran over to the figure turning her over once he knelt down beside her. On hr forehead was a small diamond.  
  
A custom seal belonging to one person and one person alone.  
  
"T-TSUNADE!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
_(end "Glued State")_  
  
_THE END_  
  
Author: Bwhahahahaha, I think I'm gonna take a short Naruto fic writing- ness break. Maybe a few weeks, maybe until Christmas break, I've heard senior year is gonna be really stressful. If you need to reach me during this time, I'll be in witness protection...so  
  
Chaoness .  
BTW, I was soooooo tempted to use Orochimaru's Theme for the Hinata-ness scene...but she wasn't THAT evil.

100,000 words BABY!!!!!!!!!


	8. Sequel Notice

I have begun posting the sequel: Causality


End file.
